Giuliani Defends Comments About Obama 'Not Loving America'

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is defending himself after receiving criticism for recent comments in which he said President Barack Obama does not love America.

Giuliani made his comments while attending a fundraising event for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker on Wednesday. At the event, the former New York mayor said:

"I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America."

"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 added at the New York-based event.

The White House issued a social media response to Giuliani's comments, starting the Twitter hashtag "#ObamaLovesAmerica" on Thursday. White House spokesperson Eric Schultz said little on the subject, only mentioning that Giuliani was doing "damage control" for his comments and adding: "I will say I agree with him on one thing he said [...] which is that it was a horrible thing to say."

The former governor of New York received criticism from some who suggested Giuliani was pointing to president Obama's African American heritage as the reason why the Commander-in-Chief has been raised differently than other American families.

Giuliani sought to clarify his comments in an interview with The New York Times, saying: "Some people thought it was racist — I thought that was a joke, since he was brought up by a white mother, a white grandfather, went to white schools, and most of this he learned from white people."

 "This isn't racism. This is socialism or possibly anti-colonialism," the former mayor added.