The White House for a second day took serious exception to comments from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani casting doubt on President Obama’s love for America.
This time White House press secretary Josh Earnest said he pitied Giuliani for the damage he’s done to his reputation over his remarks.
“It’s sad to see that someone who has reached a certain stature in this country — how he has tarnished that legacy so thoroughly,” he said. “I don’t take any vindication or satisfaction for that.”
“I feel sorry for Rudy Giuliani,” Earnest said.
On Thursday after news of Giuliani’s comments first broke, White House spokesman Eric Schultz used Giuliani’s own words against him, saying, “I agree with him one thing he said today, which is that is was a horrible thing to say.”
He also said Giuliani “test-drove this line of attack during his fleeting 2007 run for the presidency.”
The White House also took some digs at Giuliani on social media. When the White House sent out a tweet about Obama’s designation of three national monuments Thursday this not-so-subtle hashtag was tacked on: “ObamalovesAmerica.”
During a dinner in Manhattan earlier this week, Giuliani said: “I do not believe that the president loves America.”
He has since walked back the comments a bit during an interview on “Fox and Friends” Thursday, arguing that he wasn’t questioning the president’s patriotism.
“He’s a patriot, I’m sure,” Giuliani said. “What I’m saying is, in his rhetoric, I very rarely hear 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.”
