Well, that settles that: Renowned America-love expert Rudy Giuliani has determined that President Barack Obama does not, in fact, love America and also does not love Rudy Giuliani. Darren Samuelsohn at Politico reported late Wednesday night that the former New York City mayor made some interesting comments on Wednesday to a few dozen attendees at a private dinner party.
“I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America,” Giuliani said. “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.”
This wasn’t any old dinner party; in attendance was likely presidential contender and Wisconsin Republican governor Scott Walker. When CNBC asked Walker about Giuliani’s comments, he said (according to a Politico transcript) he didn’t want to speak to the president’s love or lack thereof for America. Walker added that he himself does love America, just to be clear.
This is a sensible position for a 2016 contender to take, as a 2013 Gallup poll indicated that 95 percent of Americans are extremely, very, or moderately proud to be such. If Walker can lock up the Proud American vote, his path to the White House will be secure.
Giuliani tempered his remarks a tad on Fox News today, claiming that he was “not questioning [Obama’s] patriotism” (which makes no sense) and explaining that Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were explicit about their purported love for America in a way he feels Obama is not.
Obama isn’t the only prominent political mover whose affection or lack thereof has drawn razor-sharp analysis. New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer said in a January press conference that Republicans dislike young undocumented immigrants “more than they dislike ISIS.”
