Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal stood by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s criticism of President Obama Wednesday.
“The gist of what Mayor Giuliani said – that the President has shown himself to be completely unable to speak the truth about the nature of the threats from these ISIS terrorists — is true,” Jindal, a likely GOP presidential candidate, said in a statement to TIME. “If you are looking for someone to condemn the Mayor, look elsewhere.”
Democrats seized on Giuliani’s comments that he does not “believe that the president loves America.” DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz called on Republican presidential candidates to repudiate the remarks on Thursday, naming a range of candidates.
“Jeb Bush. Scott Walker. Marco Rubio. Now it’s your turn,” Wasserman Schultz said. “Chris Christie. Ted Cruz. Rand Paul. Stand up, say ‘enough’. Lindsey Graham, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Ben Carson, Mike Pence, John Kasich, and the rest of you. In fact, I would challenge my Republican colleagues and anyone in the Republican Party to say enough. They need to start leading.”
Jindal said perhaps Giuliani “should have chosen different phraseology for his remarks,” but that the substance was accurate.
“I realize that the Democrats and many in the media are all atwitter over Mayor Giuliani’s comments,” Jindal added. “The level of the President’s love for our country is immaterial at this juncture. What President Obama has obviously demonstrated for everyone is that he is incapable of successfully executing his duties as our Commander in Chief.
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