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Gore Compares Bush's Faith to Terrorists, Says President is 'A Very Weak Man'

By Jimmy Moore
Talon News
September 13, 2004

Former Vice President and 2000 Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore described the Christian faith of President George W. Bush as similar to Islamic terrorists in the September 13 issue of the New Yorker magazine.

In the candid interview with The New Yorker magazine, Gore described Bush as "a very weak man" who "projects himself as incredibly strong."

"[B]ut behind closed doors [Bush] is incapable of saying no to his biggest financial supporters and his coalition in the Oval Office," Gore quipped to the New Yorker. "He's been shockingly malleable to Cheney and Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz and the whole New American Century bunch. He was rolled in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. He was too weak to resist it."

Although many Democrats question Bush's intelligence, Gore said he is not among those who do that.

"There are different kinds of intelligence, and it's arrogant for a person with one kind of intelligence to question someone with another kind," Gore commented to the New Yorker. "He certainly is a master at some things, and he has a following."

Veiled as a compliment about Bush, Gore said Bush's kind of intelligence "seeks strength in simplicity."

"But, in today's world, that's often a problem," Gore exclaimed. "I don't think that he's weak intellectually."

He added, "I think that [Bush] is incurious," describing the president as lacking mental interest.

Gore said Bush's "weakness is a moral weakness."

"I think he is a bully, and, like all bullies, he's a coward when confronted with a force that he's fearful of," Gore explained in the New Yorker interview. "His reaction to the extravagant and unbelievably selfish wish list of the wealthy interest groups that put him in the White House is obsequious."

Because of this, Gore calls Bush as one with "genuine moral cowardice."

On the warpath against Bush in the past few years and speaking on behalf of liberal groups such as MoveOn.org and the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, Gore's open disdain for Bush parrots the sentiment of these groups.

"Bush's failures have been spectacular," Gore stated. "The evidence of deceit, miscalculation have combined to produce in the minds of a lot of people a growing conviction that it's really not good for America."

However, when asked what he thought of Bush's faith as president, Gore said he sees it as a "particular kind of religiosity."

"It's the American version of the same fundamentalist impulse that we see in Saudi Arabia, in Kashmir, in religions around the world: Hindu, Jewish, Christian, Muslim," Gore expressed, directly comparing Bush to radical Islam terrorists. "They all have certain features in common.

Gore said this kind of religion focuses on "the vengeance, the brimstone."

"In a world of disconcerting change, when large and complex forces threaten familiar and comfortable guideposts, the natural impulse is to grab hold of the tree trunk that seems to have the deepest roots and hold on for dear life and never question the possibility that it's not going to be the source of your salvation," Gore continued. "And the deepest roots are in philosophical and religious traditions that go way back."

Former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed said he is outraged that Gore would question Bush's strong faith in the midst of a political campaign.

"Former Vice President Al Gore's comment comparing the president's devout Christian faith to that of extremists and terrorists seeking our destruction was reckless and irresponsible," Reed said in a statement. "Attacks on a candidate's faith have no place in the public discourse."

Reed said he hoped Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry would "repudiate and renounce this statement by one of his top surrogates as unbecoming of his campaign."

"If Sen. Kerry is silent, we can only conclude that Gore's comments represent his views," Reed said.

However, David Morehouse, a spokesman and adviser for the Kerry campaign, said they are "happy to have [Gore's] help" on the campaign trail and said Gore is "entitled to say what he believes."

Traditional Values Coalition leader Rev. Louis P. Sheldon is encouraging members of his group to contact Gore directly at his web site, Al-Gore-2004.org.

Gore's comments about Bush's faith come just weeks after former President Bill Clinton told a congregation of Christians in Harlem that Bush may be a "good Christian," yet that "doesn't mean that he doesn't see through a glass darkly."