In an interview with the New York Times Thursday, former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani defended his statement that President Obama did not love America and said that calling his comments “racist” was a “joke” because Obama learned his anti-American, socialist ideology from his white mother, white grandfather, and white schools.

At a fundraiser for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Wednesday, Giuliani stirred up controversy by saying Obama does not love America because of how he was brought up:

“I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America,” said Giuliani. “He doesn’t love you. And he doesn’t love me. He wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up, through love of this country.”

After being blasted by critics on the left for the “racist” remarks, Giuliani defended his comments to the New York Times:

“Some people thought it was racist — I thought that was a joke, since he was brought up by a white mother, a white grandfather, went to white schools, and most of this he learned from white people,” Giuliani said. “This isn’t racism. This is socialism or possibly anti-colonialism.”

As for his claim that Obama does not love the country, Giuliani challenged reporters to offer an example of the president praising the country without tempering it with “all the criticism”:

“I’m happy for him to give a speech where he talks about what’s good about America and doesn’t include all the criticism,” he said.

The former mayor also blasted Obama for his widely panned attempt to knock religious leaders off their “high horse” in regard to Muslim extremism.

“Now we know there’s something wrong with the guy. I thought that one sort of went off the cliff,” said Giuliani, adding that Obama does not seem to really understand history:

“What I don’t find with Obama — this will get me in more trouble again — is a really deep knowledge of history, “ he said. “I think it’s a dilettante’s knowledge of history.”

Giuliani also told the New York Times that he hoped in 2016 that America could get a true leader who loves the country, like Ronald Reagan. 

The White House has responded to Giuliani's comments at the Walker fundraiser by simply tweeting the hashtag #ObamaLovesAmerica.