February 24, 2015 - 10:03 AM
By Michael W. Chapman
(CNSNews.com) – Reverend Franklin Graham said he did not know whether President Barack Obama dislikes America, as “America’s Mayor” Rudy Giuliani stated last week, but Graham said it is true that Obama “defends Islam and chastises Christians,” denies the “religious freedoms” of those who oppose abortion and gay marriage, and added that our nation is “morally crumbling within” and that “we have turned our back on God.”
Screenshot of Rev. Franklin Graham's Facebook page, Feb. 23, 2015.
“Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has taken a lot of heat from the media for his remark that he's not sure if President Obama really loves America,” said Rev. Graham in a Feb. 24 Facebook post.
“I don't know if that's true or not, but I do know that the president defends Islam and chastises Christians, rebukes our allies and befriends our enemies, and fully supports gay marriages and abortion but denies the religious freedoms of those who don't agree,” said the reverend, who oversees the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
“Our nation is ridiculed abroad and morally crumbling within,” he said. “We are in trouble. We have turned our back on God.”
At a private dinner gathering on Feb. 18 at the 21 Club in New York City, Giuliani, a Republican, 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.”
President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Complex in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“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.”
When asked about those comments on Feb. 20, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said, "It's sad to see when somebody who has attained a certain level of public stature and even admiration tarnishes that legacy so thoroughly."
"I don't take any joy or vindication or satisfaction from that," said Earnest.
Back on Feb. 13, speaking before an Iranian-American Community Symposium in Arizona, Giuliani referenced numerous acts of terrorism by radical Muslims, including the 9/11 attacks and the shooting slaughter at Ft. Hood, and stressed they all had one thing common.
“They have in common a movement the president of the United States will not recognize,” said Giuliani. “They have been murdered, they have been slaughtered, they have been raped, they have been tortured, they have been beheaded, they have been burned by a movement that the president of the United States will not recognize.”
“What is wrong with him?” said Giuliani. “Is there no passion? Is there no passion for the lives of these innocent people? Is there no caring for them? Do you know what the slaughter at Fort Hood was described as? Workplace violence. Workplace violence.”
“This is a captain [Nidal Malik Hasan] in the United States Army who had become a jihadist two years before, who was communicating with Afghanistan and Pakistan and Yemen,” said Giuliani. “Doesn’t take a genius to figure out the cause for which he was murdering. He told us, ‘Allahu Akbar.’”
“But the president of the United States doesn’t see the connection,” said the former New York City mayor. “Just the other day he called the slaughter of those Jewish people in France a random act. Mr. President, wake up! Come off the golf course. Come back on earth!”