Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
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Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani ran for president in 2008. (John Minchillo, AP)
Rudy Giuliani sought to clarify his comments that President Obama doesn’t love America, saying in an op-ed column in The Wall Street Journal<span style="color: Red;">*</span>he “didn’t intend to question” the president’s “motives or the content of his heart.”
The former New York City mayor acknowledged he used “blunt language” and said in the column published Sunday night:
Obviously, I cannot read President Obama’s mind or heart, and to the extent that my words suggested otherwise, it was not my intention. When asked last week whether I thought the president was a patriot, I said I did, and would repeat that. I bear him no ill will, and in fact think that his personal journey is inspiring and a testament to much of what makes this country great.Giuliani, who ran for president in 2008, faced backlash from Democrats and even some Republicans for his remarks at a fundraising dinner for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. He said,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“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.”
Giuliani, whose political image was shaped by his response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on his city, was denounced by the White House and Obama’s Democratic allies. Potential 2016 GOP candidates, such as Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, <span style="color: Red;">*</span>said it was wrong for Giuliani to question Obama’s motives. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was perhaps Giuliani’s strongest defender, saying that the “gist” of his comments about Obama were right.
Walker, meanwhile, declined to answer whether Obama loves America, and said the query should be posed to the president himself. “I’ve never asked him so I don’t know,” he told the Associated Press.
In his op-ed column, Giuliani gave no ground in asserting that Obama has been “criticizing his country more than other presidents have done, regardless of their political affiliation.” He said Obama lacks the ability of John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton to offer “constructive criticisms<span style="color: Red;">*</span>regarding the ways the country might improve in the context of their unbending belief in American exceptionalism.”
American exceptionalism, patriotism, President Obama, Rudy Giuliani, Talkers<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
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