Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday night he doesn’t believe President Barack Obama “loves America,” according to a report
“I do not believe — and I know this is a horrible thing to say — but I do not believe that the president loves America,” said Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and one-time presidential contender, according to Politico. “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.”
Giuliani made the remarks Wednesday during a private dinner event at the upscale 21 Club in Manhattan that featured Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is closely considering a presidential bid.
Giuliani added that he would support a presidential candidate who will express the notion that the U.S. is “the most exceptional country in the world.”
“And if it’s you Scott, I’ll endorse you,” he added, sitting a few seats away from Walker. “And if it’s somebody else, I’ll support somebody else.”
Giuliani clarified Thursday on Fox News that he was “not questioning [Obama’s] patriotism.”
“He’s a patriot, I’m sure,” Giuliani said. “What I’m saying is, in his rhetoric, I very rarely hear him say the things that I used to hear Ronald Reagan say, the things that I used to hear Bill Clinton say about how much he loves America.”
Giuliani added that he hears Obama “criticize America much more often than other American presidents” and that he sounds “like he’s more of a critic than he is a supporter.”
“You can be a patriotic American and be a critic, but then you’re not expressing that kind of love that we’re used to from a president,” Giuliani said.
Walker’s office and Giuliani’s office did not immediately return CNN’s request for comment.
Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz pounced on the remarks Thursday and called on Republicans to “say enough” — with a special shout out for the GOP’s top presidential contenders.
“One of the GOP frontrunners was sitting feet away and didn’t say a word. If the Republican Party really wants to be taken seriously, really wants to avoid its problems of the past, now is the time for its leaders to stop this kind of nonsense. Enough,” Wasserman Schultz said. “Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, now it is your turn. Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, stand up and say enough.”
The DNC chair added that while she “rarely agreed” with President George W. Bush, she “never questioned his love of country.”
“I don’t often agree with my Republican colleagues on the Hill, but I know they love America. Is this what it has really come to? Really?” Wasserman Schultz said.
Walker, meanwhile, honed in on the flaws of Mitt Romney’s unsuccessful 2012 presidential campaign on Wednesday night as he addressed the audience of GOP elites, business leaders and academics.
“The big thing I thought Mitt Romney’s campaign missed more than anything was we already knew the narrative that the economy was failing, and that there was a compelling case to get rid of the president,” Walker said according to the New York Daily News. “What we never heard — or at least didn’t hear very clearly — was why Mitt Romney would be a better alternative.”