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AP/Gerald Herbert
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) during his 2008 presidential campaign.
In $4 with The New York Times, Giuliani further argued his comments can't be viewed as racist because Obama wasn't raised by his Kenyan father.
"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," Giuliani said. "This isn't racism. This is socialism or possibly anti-colonialism."
Giuliani was reacting to the remarks he gave at a Wednesday night dinner for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), a leading 2016 presidential contender. There, Giuliani, a former 2008 presidential candidate, caused a small uproar when he brought up Obama's upbringing and relative love for his country.
"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 said, $4. "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."
The remarks were widely condemned by Democrats. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) slammed Giuliani's criticism as "pitiful," $4. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida), who chairs the national Democratic Party, called on Republican leaders to condemn Giuliani's "ugly" comments. Wayne Barrett, a Giuliani antagonist who has long chronicled the former mayor's administration, $4 tearing into Giuliani's own checkered past.
But Giuliani doesn't seem like he'll be backing off his remarks anytime soon. In a series of $4 on Thursday, he expanded his point to argue Obama doesn't love all of "Western civilization."
"Maybe it's even broader than that he doesn't express love of America enough," Giuliani $4. "I don't also believe he expresses the love of Western civilization that he should, or an understanding of Western civilization, or what Western civilization has brought to the world."