Rudy Giuliani made some incendiary comments about how President Obama doesn’t really love his country, and the White House wasted no time calling the former New York City mayor’s words “horrible.”
The controversial statement came during a private function to support Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s likely presidential run for 2016 that Giuliani was attending on Wednesday night. “America’s Mayor,” who was speaking in front of conservative executives, shared his thoughts on Obama’s patriotism.
“I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America. He doesn’t love you. And he doesn’t love me. He wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country.
“…with all our flaws we’re the most exceptional country in the world. I’m looking for a presidential candidate who can express that, do that and carry it out.”
According to Politico , Scott Walker was sitting a few feet away when Giuliani made what many are calling racist comments about Obama.
On Thursday, the White House came out and denounced the comments.
“It was a horrible thing to say,” Deputy press secretary Eric Schultz said in a statement using similar words to those used by Giuliani.
Also on Thursday, Rudy Giuliani made the rounds on several television shows in an attempt to clarify his comments about Obama, saying he is not questioning the Commander in Chief’s patriotism, but had an issue with Obama’s statements about the U.S.
“He’s a patriot, I’m sure. What I’m saying is that, in his rhetoric, I very rarely hear him say the things that I used to hear Ronald Reagan say, the things I used to hear Bill Clinton say, about how much he loves America. I do hear him criticize America much more often than other American presidents.”
President Obama has refused to call the ISIS terrorists — who are committing unspeakable atrocities against other religious — Islamic, which has enraged conservatives and military leaders. Mayor Giuliani and others accuse the president of “apologizing” for all that America has done wrong.
Obama also compared ISIS brutality to the Crusades — waged in the Middle Ages — during the annual National Prayer Breakfast earlier this month. He suggested people need to get off of their “high horse,” reminding his audience that the West has its own history of “terrible deeds” in the name of religion, including the Crusades, the Inquisition and slavery, according to Yahoo! News .
“The mayor can speak for himself,” Walker said. “I’m not going to comment on whether — what the president thinks or not.”
On Friday morning talk shows, Rudy Giuliani continued to be harshly criticized for what Obama supporters say are racist, insensitive comments about his patriotism and called out for using the September 11 attacks in his statements.
[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images News]