DHS chief: Giuliani comments ‘not helpful’

Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said Sunday that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s (R) comments about President Obama not loving America were “not helpful.”

{mosads}Giuliani has sparked days of controversy. 

“His comments about the president of the United States, particularly in these times, are not helpful,” Johnson said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Johnson pointed out that he knows Giuliani, and that Giuliani even hired him as a federal prosecutor in 1988.

“I’m sorry to see statements like that coming from the former mayor whose response to 9/11 in 2001 I admired very much,” Johnson said. “His response, to me, is a model for how government leaders should respond in times of crisis.  I think his most recent statements are very regrettable.”

The White House has had a stronger pushback to Giuliani’s comments. 

“It’s sad to see when somebody who has attained a certain level of public stature and even admiration tarnishes that legacy so thoroughly,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Friday. 

“I feel sorry for Rudy Giuliani today,” he added.