Former Florida House speaker and current GOP Senate candidate Marco Rubio just put out the following statement on the Ground Zero mosque:
“We are a nation founded on strong principles of religious freedom. However, we cannot be blind to the pain 9/11 caused our nation and the families of the victims. It is divisive and disrespectful to build a mosque next to the site where 3,000 innocent people were murdered at the hands of Islamic extremism. I strongly disagree with President Obama and Charlie Crist.”
Crist voiced support for both Obama and Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the issue:
“I think he’s right – yeah,” Crist, who was elected governor as a Republican but is now running for Senate as an independent candidate, told CNN. “We are a country in my view that stands for freedom of religion. You know, respect for others. I know there are sensitivities and I understand that, but I think Mayor Bloomberg is right and I think the President is right.”
While Obama is now saying he takes no position on the wisdom of building the mosque there, Bloomberg has explicitly praised the mosque.
