Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Saturday on Newsmax’s “Saturday Report” that U.S. national security “deteriorated terribly” during the Obama administration after officials stopped identifying “Islamic terrorism” directly.
“Starting with Obama where we decided we’re not going to say Islamic terrorism and we literally put it in the back drawer, we’ve been deteriorating terribly,” Giuliani said while discussing the arrest of an alleged Hezbollah and Islamic Revolutionary Card Corp. operative accused of plotting attacks in Europe, Canada, and New York.
Giuliani said U.S. counterterrorism efforts were strongest in the years immediately following the Sept. 11 attacks.
“There was a period after 9/11 where our security was the best in the world,” he said.
“People were always asking me, ‘Are we safer now since 9/11?’ I said, ‘You have no idea how safe we are,’ because they wouldn’t hear about all the attacks. We were sending them off left and right.”
He credited President Donald Trump with strengthening national security during his presidency. “Trump bolstered it for four years,” Giuliani said.
Still, Giuliani argued recent law enforcement successes show the country is improving again.
“It does show how good we are at catching,” he said.
“We’ve improved immensely and I don’t know if we’re back, we’re almost back to where we were in the post-9/11 [era].”
Giuliani called the arrest of the alleged terror operative “a good thing,” warning the suspect “was planning massive attacks.”
“This was not a small-time shadow,” he said. “This is a big-time Iran network.”
Earlier in the interview, Giuliani also spoke about his health, saying he believes he is “100% recovered.”
“I’m [in] really, really good shape,” he said while thanking Newsmax hosts and staff for their support during his recovery.
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