Giuliani Race Comments

Rudy wouldn't be Rudy if he backed down.

But by amplifying his charge that President Barack Obama doesn't love America, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani appears ready to risk sullying the powerful mythology that grew around his leadership when he steadied and steeled the nation in the terrible, confusing time after 9/11.

Since those fleeting days when he was a unifying figure, Giuliani has more often dealt in waspish rhetoric and savage mockery -- especially of a president he says has "failed."

"America's Mayor" has gone rogue, lashing out...

For those who first dialed into Rudolph W. Giuliani during his “America’s mayor” phase, right after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — when he wowed the world with his civic leadership, soaring oratory and unifying largess — the former New York mayor’s racially charged comments about President Obama might seem puzzling.

But Mr. Giuliani’s road to and through City Hall was punctuated with racial controversy.

From his 1993 campaign challenging David N. Dinkins, the city’s first African-American mayor, during which Mr. Giuliani stood with rowdy protesting police officers —...