In the now-infamous presidential debate exchange on the Benghazi, Libya attack, the snap judgment was that Mitt Romney stumbled badly, blowing a key chance to hit Obama. That things did not go his way is undeniable but the error appears to have been moderator Candy Crowley’s, not the Republican candidate’s.

In the exchange Romney seized on President Obama’s claim that on Sept 12, the day after the incident, the president referred to the incident as an act of terror. Romney jumped on this, asking Obama if what he just said was that he specifically said on Sept. 12 the attack was an “act of terror”.