WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday endorsed building a mosque near ground zero, saying the country’s founding principles demanded no less.
“As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country,” he said, weighing in for the first time on a controversy that has riven New York City and the nation.
The president made his remarks at a dinner at the White House celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Republicans were quick to pounce on the remarks. “President Obama is wrong,” said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. “It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero.”
The mosque would be part of a $100 million Islamic center to be built two blocks from where about 3,000 people died Sept. 11, 2001. The Associated Press
