will make his first visit to a mosque during his time in office, White House announced Saturday.
He will visit the Islamic Society of Baltimore on Wednesday, and will speak with its members about tolerance and religious freedom.
“On Wednesday, February 3rd, the President will travel to Maryland to visit the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque to celebrate the contributions Muslim Americans make to our nation and reaffirm the importance of religious freedom to our way of life,” a White House official said in a statement.
“The President will hold a roundtable with community members and deliver remarks, where he will reiterate the importance of staying true to our core values — welcoming our fellow Americans, speaking out against bigotry, rejecting indifference, and protecting our nation’s tradition of religious freedom.”
The visit appears to be part of the president’s efforts to push back against what he sees as inflammatory rhetoric about Muslims coming from Republican presidential candidates — most notably Donald Trump, who has called for a temporary ban on allowing Muslims to enter the country.
According to the Washington Post, the mosque is the same one that was attended by Adnan Syed, a Muslim-American man convicted of murder who gained national attention as the subject of the first season of the popular podcast “Serial.”
Obama to visit AMERICAN mosque for the 1st time….
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/04/24/Obama-to-visit-Masjid-Negara-Best-way-for-US-president-to-honour-Islam/
The visit to the mosque, built in 1922 on the site of a church…..
https://blogs.state.gov/stories/2009/04/08/president-obama-sultan-ahmed-mosque-istanbul
APRIL 8, 2009
In Ankara, Obama showed his respect by visiting one of Islam’s most celebrated sites, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (also known as the Blue Mosque) in the heart of Istanbul’s old city, accompanied by Prime Minister Erdogan. This mosque was also a church before being taken over. The Hagia Sophia basilica.
Curious timing, no?
Don’t be surprised when this worst, most despicable piece of garbage ever to befoul the Oval Office comes out publicly as muslim once he is out of office.
Imagine the howls of outrage if a conservative went to speak at a church that had a pastor who publicly supported terrorist attacks against abortion clinics.
Barack Obama is far and away more highly qualified for the office he holds than any of the angry clowns and horse’s asses presently vying for the republican nomination. There are admittedly several who don’t fall into either of those last two categories, but for some odd reason they seem unlikely to be nominated. Possibly they don’t seem angry or crazy enough.
Ironically, those who have opined for the past seven years that the current president is a narcissist seem hellbent on electing a replacement who actually and obviously is one.
@Greg: Exactly Trump’s completely over the top narcissism almost makes BHO’S demeanor appear self-effacing.lol
To their credit some FA Conservs.–Pete-O5-Dr.J-Brother Bob–have called Trump out on this point. Others just blindly follow his call.
@Greg:
Most qualified? As a less than two year Senator?
I think being qualified involves more than political experience. There are people who have been in Congress for years that will never be qualified for the presidency.
I dislike hearing the President of the United States being viciously insulted, even though I recognize baiting when I see it.
Obama has successfully led the nation through some extraordinarily difficult times. He took office in the midst of an economic disaster-in-progress, with two prolonged wars currently underway and subsequent instability in the region a virtual certainty. He’s had to deal with unprecedented levels of political resistance and personal hostility at every turn, which began even before he took office.
By many measures things have gotten a lot better, but hell would freeze over before any republican acknowledged the obvious. Their success is totally dependent on selling the notion that the nation is circling the drain. That’s what they’ve been telling us for seven straight years.
Personally, I think the unrelenting negativity has done the nation real harm. Optimism is the proper attitude for America. Problems should bring us together to solve them, not be nurtured as a means for political advancement.
@Greg:
Can you describe a qualification or two? I have seen no evidence of any qualification other than as a hate-inducing rabble-rouser, the evidence of which is in the racial animus that has risen over the past 7 years; not whites against blacks, but blacks against whites.
Yes, the nation was in the grips of a recession when he took over. However, after $10 trillion in additional debt, it has barely improved; the worst and slowest recovery in history. He has ended wars by surrendering the field to the enemy, who did not cooperate and go away. They became stronger and more deadly.
Though it remains to be seen what exactly Mr. Obama will say at the Mosque, my guess is he is not going to tell them to do all they can to throttle back on the jihadist rhetoric. Nor will he point out that the behavior of Muslims, such as has been going on in Europe and at various points in this nation, is their own worst enemy. No, I doubt he will bring that up… though I am prepared to be wrong.
@Greg:
The economy is grinding to a halt, ISIS is winning, we’re being overrun with illegals and the middle East is a disaster with Iran kicking obama’s butt.
Thanks for the memories