Terror alert levels were raised in 2004 to boost Bush’s reelection

Evidence

The use of “soft” power was a hallmark of the Obama presidency. This meant that Bush era programs that were blatant propaganda had to be discontinued. One such program was the color-coded terror alert system. Tom Ridge, secretary of DHS, had praised the program when it was launched but then grew skeptical, stating that he was urged to raise the terror alert level as a way to bolster George W. Bush’s presidential campaign in 2004.104 The Obama administration replaced this program with the National Terrorism Advisory System, which is more subtle. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 614

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• QUESTION: Tom Ridge’s specific claim that he was urged to raise the terror alert to aid Bush’s 2004 campaign — worth verifying against Ridge’s own published account and the 9/11 Commission work.
• SHARE: The claim that color-coded terror alerts were a reelection tool in 2004 is a sharp detail for anyone working on the politics of fear-mongering.