Giuliani Adviser Under Fire for 'Too Many Mosques' Comment

September 24, 2007

Author: Omar Sacirbey

Source: Religious News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=14242

Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is rejecting calls to fire one his top homeland security advisers, Rep. Peter King, after the Long Island Republican said there are "too many mosques" in the United States.

"I've known Pete for 41 years, so I'm not about to do that," Giuliani told reporters in Northern Virginia on Thursday (Sept. 20).

"We have, unfortunately, too many mosques in this country. There's too many people sympathetic to radical Islam," King, the senior Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, said in an interview with Politico.com. "There's been a lack of full cooperation from too many people in the Muslim community."

After King said his comments were taken out of context, the news Web site posted the interview online. By Friday afternoon, the clip had received more than 20,200 views on YouTube.

Muslim and other religious leaders denounced King, who has been criticized in the past for controversial comments he has made about Muslims.