Peter King: Newt Gingrich 'WRONG' To Compare Mosque Organizers To 'Nazis' (VIDEO)

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) says it was "wrong" for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to analogize plans to build a mosque and Islamic community center a few blocks away from "Ground Zero" in New York City to Nazis putting up signs close to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

In an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday, King, who serves as the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, weighed in on the comparison made by Gingrich earlier this week.

"I would caution everyone, Democrats and Republicans, to be very careful, very sensitive in how you address this," said the congressman from New York. "For instance, I think it was wrong for Newt Gingrich to use the term "Nazi" in talking about this mosque, making a Nazi comparison."

Here's what Gingrich originally had to say on the matter during an interview Monday on "Fox & Friends":

"I think we ought to be honest about the fact that we have a right -- and this happens all the time in America. You know, Nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington. We would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor. There's no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center."

King described the proposed religious center as an extremely "sensitive" issue.

"Everyone should realize when they speak that their words are being listened to by the families of those who were killed on September 11," he said. "So it's a legitimate issue if it's used in a very measured way."

WATCH:

Comments

[Nonyabizz]

03:38 PM on 08/20/2010

Gingrich is wrong on most everything. Why is this news?

[MaxxMahOnline]

01:32 PM on 08/19/2010

This is just a sad state of affairs in America. Now, we have the First and Fourteenth Admendmens being trampled on. No matter what your personal feelings are, we have freedom of religious expression in America. We have a democracy, and NEVER should bigotry, emotions, hatred, and prejudice trump the U.S. Constitution. If ALL Muslims are to be blamed for the terrorist attacks on 9-11, then ALL Christians should be held accountable for slavery, killing of American Indians, hangings of blacks in the South. See how ridiculous that sounds.

The news media has done once again what it always does, fan ningthe flames of racial bigotry in this Country. So, here we are approaching the anniversary of King's "I Have A Dream" speech that spoke of equality and justice for all, uniting as a people for the good of mankind and our country, and some have forgotten that his dream that America would be a more tolerant society and accept its diversities as a source of its strength. What a shame that message is still being lost on some Americans. And the ones speaking the loudest against building the community center are Christians, who should know that Jesus Christ would never be on their side of this issue.

[GLT21]

11:58 AM on 08/19/2010

Sad day for history. Those guys don't get what America is all about.

[Israel4Ever]

11:45 AM on 08/19/2010

So lets summarize for the factually challenged

1. The people who perpetrated 911 were Muslims
2. The muslim street already believes America is at war with Islam. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HOW TALKING HEADS PHRASE MOSQUE RESISTANCE RHETORIC.
3. It is proper to say that Islam is at war with the west. Everytime they put a hit out on one of our authors, riot in the streets demanding we restrain freedom of speech in our own countries, demand to tell us how to deal with our allies (Israel), and blow things up in other people's countries, they are declaring war on the west. Hard as it is to swallow, they are right and we are being disingenuous. There is no room for a dogmatic, orthodox Islam and the west to coexist together. They can live side by side but only so long as immigration from the Muslim world to the west is restricted to the point of nonexistance.
4. Many of those against the mosque think they SHOULD NOT not CANNOT build it at its current site.
5. Many of those against the mosque have no beef with a house of worship elsewhere
6. MOST of those against the mosque have no history of problems with Islamic entities.

[omobob]

11:55 AM on 08/19/2010

Well, at least you have taken the bait, hook line and sinker. Not so clever misinformed talking points meant not to enlighten but to tera down and create conflict.
'Violent crimes occur throughout U.S. cities, but that is no indication of Americans' general acceptance of murder or assault. Likewise, continued terrorist violence is not proof that Muslims tolerate it. Indeed, they are its primary victims.
Still, the typical American cannot be blamed for these misperceptions. Media-content analyses show that the majority of U.S. TV news coverage of Islam is sharply negative. Americans are bombarded every day with news stories about Muslims and majority-Muslim countries in which vocal extremists, not evidence, drive perceptions."
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/02/opinion/oe-esposito2

[GLT21]

12:01 PM on 08/19/2010

Your just a bigot! Muslims also died in the towers during the 9/11 attack.

[Israel4Ever]

11:38 AM on 08/19/2010

I know King was trying to say that Muslims, per se, are not the perpetrators of the 911 bombings so Newt should not make the comparison...but I think this is a political, not factual, distinction.

What everyone here is avoiding was the fact that Newt was saying "perpetrators of an atrocity should not be allowed to torment victims at the site of an incident". And though he is wrong legally and therefor should make that clear, he is not completely wrong. He also made the statement about Japan and Pearl Harbor which is much closer to the way people feel about the mosque and nobody commented on that because Japan did attack Pearl Harbor.

BTW: Muslims DID attak the WTC. Believe me, as few Japanese had a hand in planning the PH attacks as Muslims had a say in 911 (meaning to say, very few) but we do not say JAPANESE DID NOT ATTACK PEARL HARBOR, THE ROYAL FAMILY AND THE LEADERS OF AN APPALLINGLY OUT OF TOUCH JAPANESE MILITARY MACHINE ATTACKED PEARL HARBOR.

The reason we don't say tightly parsed sentences like the one above is that we KNEW we believed we could win against the Japanese and nobody was afraid of taking them on. We are, rightly, very afraid of taking on the entire Muslim world. That is the ONLY reason responsible politicians are so careful about speaking of Ismalist Extremists vs. Muslims.


The islamic extremists who performed the deed WERE muslims

[omobob]

12:02 PM on 08/19/2010

Hitler was raised catholic, but you dont here about the Catholics invading Poland or The Shinto attack on Pearl Harbor. War is an extension of politics by other means. Islam, Judaism and Christianity have all been co-opted by extremists who misuse the word of God to commit heinous crimes. To blame the innocent Islamic people, is to misunderstand the basic tenets of Christianity, love, mercy and forgiveness.

[drschockley]

10:29 AM on 08/19/2010

Well, their friends, i.e. Akhmanutjob, want to ext.er.minate all Je.ws..not a stretch...

[PostAmerican]

10:28 AM on 08/19/2010

Are these Nine Eleven families just as outraged by the failure to capture or kill the alleged Nine Eleven Conspirator Bin Laden? What do they think about how Nine Eleven was used to start a disastrous 'War' in Iraq that killed hundreds of thousands compared to the 2,000 killed on 911? What do they think about the Torture, the Patriot Acts, the assault on American Freedoms?

[artsyone]

07:40 PM on 08/19/2010

I think many of the 9/11 families are completed disgusted by the right and the complete ineptness of the last admin. That is why Coulter and Beck have insulted, degraded and spewed hate at the families, they can't stand being criticized by the widows and widowers of 9/11. Beck said 'I hate 9/11 victims families for asking questions'. This screwball has an audience??
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/07/entertainment/main1690954.shtml
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5b1_1233761991&c=1

[PlainBread]

10:18 AM on 08/19/2010

Oh please, don't hesitate GOP. Tell all moderate Muslims in the entire world that you guys are at war with them. I know you want to self-fulfill the biblical prophecy about the apocalypse, right? This is the right time, if it never happens maybe you should make it happen yourselves.

[blinkthink]

11:28 AM on 08/19/2010

Huckabee was talking how we are living in the 'end times' with a minister the other day. What these Hatriots don't say is HOW THEY ARE DOING EVERYTHING TO BRING IT ABOUT. They want to start endless wars, bankrupt the taxpayers in favor of the rich and take out our food/wildlife supply along with the planet because they don't believe in global warming or pollution. They are the masters of disaster.

[artsyone]

07:35 PM on 08/19/2010

'Hatriots'? I love it! Never heard that before, I hope you don't mind I borrow it as my favorite new word this week!

I do actually believe that many believers in 'The Rapture' are doing all they can do to bring the end as soon as possible, They actually believe they will be carried to heaven, in spite of the hate they perpetrate. Wish Cheney would hurry and get his info first-hand.

[TEHelms]

09:58 AM on 08/19/2010

King suddenly recognizes "measured"? I am shocked!

[dwedge]

09:36 AM on 08/19/2010

Gee Newt, how does it feel when Peter King becomes the moderate one?

[blinkthink]

11:29 AM on 08/19/2010

I'm getting the twilight zone theme since King is a first responders denier-pathetic, both of them.

[Gneirre]

09:26 AM on 08/19/2010

“Why do we continue to give this moron air time? Wait, let me answer my own question.....because America justifies this as 'entertainment'. Man...we have got to get our priorities straight.”

[FALCON72]

09:16 AM on 08/19/2010

This verbal posturing by the right wing is to tell the Mulim nations throughout the world, the U.S. is at war with you.

They do not want America on peaceful terms with "those people". The troops may be transitioning out of Iraq but if the right wingers have their way, there will always be more countries to invade.

[MasterX]

09:11 AM on 08/19/2010

If you pay close attention to Republican talkings points as coordinated with Fox News and then disseminated on all the other cable news stations by high-level Republican politicians as guests, you will almost always find that whatever they are accusing the Democrats of at any given time will reveal what crimes, misdemeanors, or unethical behavior they are up to. This way, if it comes out that they are committing the behavior which they are exposing or berating, they have innoculated themselves by accusing the Democrats of doing it, thus confusing the issue for the public. Watch for it, it's really uncanny how they habitually lie about the Dems, and if one digs deeper, one realizes what they chose to lie about, they, themselves are guilty of.

[MasterX]

09:28 AM on 08/19/2010

A simple example is the ACORN controversy. Republicans, particularly in the South, are notorious for voter intimidation, and dare I say, probably fraud, but the whole ACORN affair diverted attention to their antics and placed it unfairly and through the use of a fabricated videotape allegedly showing ACORN assisting a prostitute. Now think back, how many good investigative news stories on how the Republicans unfairly, and possibly illegally, intimidate voters, particularly the kind of voters ACORN was created to try and register. The Republicans should be prosecuted by the Obama Justice Department as a crime syndicate just like the Mafia. Unfortunately, Obama seems to have a Rodney King "Why can't we just all get along" view of things, or at best, he seems to be turning out to be another Clinton Democrat. Democrat on the outside, Fiscal Republican on the inside. Too bad, I had high hopes, and still hold on to a glimmer of those hopes. Time will tell.

[dfed813]

10:14 AM on 08/19/2010

It's called Psychological projection.

[fireW]

09:06 AM on 08/19/2010

Ridiculous rhetoric actually too hyperbolic & shrill for cons to ignore or make excuses for. A new lows for Gingerich? Personally, I can't see that far down into the con cesspool to properly characterize it.

[GhostNyc]

08:56 AM on 08/19/2010

Thank you Newt for further alienating yet another huge conservative base for the GOP.
In the last year the GOP has turned its back on the Hispanic community, who for all intent and purpose is very conservation, religious and family value based. Now they turned their backs on the Muslim community who is equally conservative, religious and family based.

As a nation are we going to respect and uphold our own Constitution?

[RockydaDog]

10:17 AM on 08/19/2010

You left out the anti-gay similarity.

[bobo5]

10:23 AM on 08/19/2010

That just leaves Hindus. They've already shown that they hate the Chinese too.

[elizlucinda]

10:29 AM on 08/19/2010

they will only respect and uphold the Constitution when it suits their own purposes..as in...gun control