Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., told Newsmax host Steve Malzberg today that Rudy Giuliani “should not apologize” for claiming that President Obama doesn’t love America. The congressman said Giuliani wasn’t questioning Obama’s patriotism, but simply “does not understand why the president doesn’t have the intensity, doesn’t have any feeling when he speaks about terrorism and combating terrorism.”

“He’s not questioning whether or not he’s a patriot,” King said. “He really believes that President Obama does not have his heart in it the way other presidents have.”

King added that he agrees with Giuliani’s claim: “I feel like [Obama] looks at it in a very intellectual or antiseptic way, that he has to always equalize it, he has to always take one step forward and one step sideways when he talks about this issue. Back in 2009 when he did his apology tour. He does not have the same fervor that other presidents have had.”

“He should not apologize and he has not apologized,” King said of Giuliani. “He displayed the context of it, he was not saying that he’s not patriotic, but he did say that he does not have the fervor and the drive that a president needs to effectively carry out a war.”