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Obama felt 'obligation' to weigh in on mosque near Ground Zero

Published: August 16, 2010 3:19 PM
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

President Barack Obama speaks at a fundraiser event

Photo credit: Getty/JEWEL SAMAD | President Barack Obama speaks at a fundraiser event for Milwaukee Mayor and Governor candidate Tom Barrett at the US Cellular Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 16, 2010.

A White House spokesman says politics wasn’t a factor in President Barack Obama’s remarks about building a mosque near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York City.

Deputy White House press secretary Bill Burton said it was “not politics” but Obama’s feeling that he had the obligation as president to “make sure people are treated equally” under the Constitution.

Obama has...

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Did President Obama do the right thing by supporting the building of a mosque?

Yes, this is America -- we believe in religious freedom No, the location is the wrong one He should just stay out of it and focus on other things