Last week, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani found himself in the hot seat after questioning President Obama's love for America.
At a dinner with presidential hopeful Scott Walker and many media personnel, Giuliani said "I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe the president loves America. ... He wasn't brought up the way you were brought up or the way I was brought through love of this country."
Since making these comments, Giuliani has faced criticism from all directions. People on the left have called it a baseless attack. Democratic National Committee Chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, has recently responded to the former mayor by pointing how ridiculous the accusation is. The chairwoman then ended her statement by saying, "I don't agree with my Republican colleagues on the Hill, but I know they love America." Some people have even gone on to call the attacks racist, recalling the similar attack of calling for Obama's birth certificate.
Giuliani's comments have even started to cause problems for the people in his own party. Scott Walker, who was at the dinner with Giuliani, has received criticism for not stepping out against the comments.
The problem for 2016 Republican hopefuls does not stop with Walker, since the comments were made seemingly every Republican candidate has been forced to release their own statements. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal refused to criticize Giuliani and instead shifted the conversation to Obama's stance on ISIS. Both Marco Rubio and Rand Paul have stepped away from their party and have released statements saying that they do not question Obama's motive, only his politics. The Giuliani statements have quickly become the first hit to every Republican presidential hopeful.
Since Giuliani has made the comments, nearly everyone in the political world has reacted to them, offering a variety of opinions. The general consensus has been that Giuliani's statement was pointless and idiotic. They've become a distraction for those on the right and a field day for those on the left. The takeaway should be the declining relevance of Giuliani.
There is no diminishing the things that Giuliani has done for this country. He took on organized crime and led us through one of the nation's hardest times, truly becoming "America's Mayor." However, since then Giuliani has slowly begun to tarnish the reputation he worked so hard to build. After his two terms as New York mayor, Giuliani went on to form the security consulting agency Giuliani Partners — which has since become one of the biggest blights to Giuliani's reputation. The agency came under fire when it was revealed that they had done consulting work for Qatar, a "country which help protect 9/11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed."
It was this connection which also derailed his 2008 presidential campaign. Beyond his consulting work and presidential campaign, Giuliani has also become a recurring character on Fox News, giving his opinion on anything they ask him to. While his post mayoral résumé is nothing to sneeze at, it is definitely a step down from his former glory.
While Giuliani's comments were idiotic and vile, the real question here is this: Why are we still listening to Rudy Giuliani? 2000s era Giuliani was an authority in the political world, but since then his star status has been on the decline and he knows it. Giuliani has been banished to the world of Fox News, making extreme statements in some vain attempt to gain attention and legitimacy. The best thing anyone can do right now is ignore Giuliani and focus on more important things.
Reach the columnist at Alec.Grafil@asu.edu or follow @AlecGrafil on Twitter.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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