On Saturday evening Barack Obama, speaking at a dinner with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, jokingly said, “I don’t know about you guys, but I am so relieved that the whole birther thing is over. I mean, ISIL, North Korea, poverty, climate change, none of those things weighed on my mind like the validity of my birth certificate.” Around the same time as Obama’s remarks a bomb exploded in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, injuring at least 25 people. In New Jersey a pipe bomb exploded at a Marine Corps charity race (fortunately, no one was injured there). And in St. Cloud, Minnesota, a knife-wielding self-proclaimed Islamic radical went on a stabbing spree, wounding eight people before he was shot dead by police.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, evidently fearing negative optics regarding the latest terror bombing, said, “We … want to be upfront saying that there is no evidence at this point of a terror connection to this incident. This is preliminary information. It’s something we will be investigating very carefully, but there is no evidence at this point of a terror connection.” While de Blasio did acknowledge that it was “an intentional act,” his claiming there is no “terror connection” is simply asinine. As the investigation unfolds, Americans will learn who is responsible for these acts of terror — jihadis. But Democrats like Obama and de Blasio seem more concerned about Americans’ perception of terrorists than actual Islamists and their hateful violence.

Consider the wise words of George W. Bush from a speech in 2002 to West Point cadets: “We cannot defend America and our friends by hoping for the best. We cannot put our faith in the word of tyrants, who solemnly sign non-proliferation treaties, and then systemically break them. If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long.”