Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani now says he didn’t mean to question what was in President Obama’s heart when he said last week he doesn’t believe the president “loves America” and said the episode overshadowed a broader point he was trying to make.
“My blunt language suggesting that the president doesn’t love America, notwithstanding, I didn’t intend to question President Obama’s motives or the content of his heart,” Mr. Giuliani wrote in a Wall Street Journal piece posted online Sunday evening. “My intended focus really was the effect his words and his actions have on the morale of the country, and how that effect may damage his performance.”
Mr. Giuliani went on to write that the American president has a unique role because of the country’s record of promoting and protecting human freedom, and “irrespective of what a president may think or feel, his inability or disinclination to emphasize what is right with America can hamstring our success as a nation.”
Last week at a Republican fundraiser in New York, Mr. Giuliani said that he doesn’t believe Mr. Obama loves America.
“[Obama] doesn’t love you. And he doesn’t love me,” Mr. Giuliani said. “He wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country.”
In the opinion piece, Mr. Giuliani says Mr. Obama has been seen criticizing the United States more than other presidents and has had a difficult time expressing “adequate support” for allies like Israel, Ukraine and Jordan.
He cited examples of Presidents Kennedy, Reagan and Clinton as possessing “the ability to walk a fine line by placing any constructive criticisms regarding the ways the country might improve in the context of their unbending belief in American exceptionalism.”
“Obviously, I cannot read President Obama’s mind or heart, and to the extent that my words suggested otherwise, it was not my intention,” Mr. Giuliani continued. “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.”
He said he hopes and prays Mr. Obama can “rise to the occasion” and underscore America’s greatness, and he will be the first to applaud him if he does.
“But I can only be disheartened when I hear him claim, as he did last August, that our response to 9/11 betrayed the ideals of this country,” he wrote. “When he interjected that ’we tortured some folks,’ he undermined those who managed successfully to protect us from further attack.”
“And to say, as the president has, that American exceptionalism is no more exceptional than the exceptionalism of any other country in the world, does not suggest a becoming and endearing modesty, but rather a stark lack of moral clarity,” he continued.
Mr. Giuliani said that whether or not people agree with what he said last week, he hopes the intention behind the words can be the basis for a “real conversation about national leadership and the importance of confidence and optimism in framing America’s way forward.”
“I hope also that our president will start acting and speaking in a way that draws sharp, clear distinctions between us and those who threaten our way of life,” he concluded.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.