White House: Giuliani's comments on Obama 'horrible'

David Jackson | USA TODAY

A White House spokesman Thursday denounced comments by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani that seemed to question President Obama's patriotism, in part by using Giuliani's own words.

"It was a horrible thing to say," said White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz.

Giuliani, a 2008 Republican presidential candidate, used that same phrase Wednesday night to criticize Obama, Politico reported.

"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 is quoted as saying. "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's comments came during a private dinner on behalf of a likely 2016 Republican president candidate, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Politico reported: "With Walker sitting just a few seats away, Giuliani continued by saying that 'with all our flaws we're the most exceptional country in the world. I'm looking for a presidential candidate who can express that, do that and carry it out.'"

Giuliani said during a Fox News appearance Thursday that he wasn't impugning Obama's patriotism, only his comments about the United States.

"He's a patriot, I'm sure," the former mayor said. "What I'm saying is that, in his rhetoric, I very rarely hear him say the things that I used to hear Ronald Reagan say, the things I used to hear Bill Clinton say, about how much he loves America. I do hear him criticize America much more often than other American presidents."

In an interview with CNBC, Walker declined to comment about Giuliani's remarks. "The mayor can speak for himself," Walker said. "I'm not going to comment on whether — what the president thinks or not."

Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, criticized Walker's silence and chided Giuliani and his fellow Republicans. "I rarely agreed with President Bush, but I never questioned his love for our country," she said.

She recalled that in 2008, "when the ugly head of bigotry against Barack Obama reared its head, John McCain famously stood up and said, 'enough.' ... I would challenge my Republican colleagues and anyone in the Republican Party to say, 'enough.' They need to start leading."

White House spokesman Schultz declined to comment at length on Giuliani's statements.

"He seems embarrassed enough to be doing damage control this morning, so I'm not going to pile on from here," Schultz said.

Contributing: Catalina Camia