Giuliani weighs in on Trump's proposed terror commission
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday night that he believed Donald Trump's suggested commission on radical Islamic terrorism was "a good idea," though he did not give a direct answer when asked if he would be open to leading the panel.
"I think the idea of studying how we can best deal with radical Islam, and try to figure how to distinguish between all the good people who are Muslims and the bad ones, is a good idea," said Giuliani, whose name was floated by Trump to spearhead the commission.
The New York Times first reported Giuliani's comments.
The former mayor, who was in office when terrorists hit the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, gave the remarks at a Manhattan event marking the beginning of a vintage watch sales business. Giuliani added that the Trump campaign has to make the candidate's idea more clear, "but I believe that wherever this goes, and I don't know where it'll go, this is a good step."
Giuliani cautioned, however, against profiling Muslims.
"I've been trying to remind people that on the night of September 11, I said that nobody in New York should take action against anyone who's Arab, because we shouldn't engage in group blame," he said.
Asked about his reaction to Trump proposing he lead the panel, Giuliani said, "I don't know."
"He says a lot of things, and we'll see what happens," he added.
Trump first said he was "thinking about setting up a commission" in a Fox News interview Wednesday morning.
"We have to be extremely careful," Trump said over the phone when asked about his calls to temporarily bar Muslims from the U.S. "In fact, I'm thinking about setting up a commission perhaps headed by Rudy Giuliani to take a very serious look at this problem. But this is a worldwide problem. And we have to be smart."
Later on Wednesday, Trump seemed to soften his language on his proposed Muslim ban, saying in a Fox News radio interview that "it hasn't been called for yet" and "nobody's done it."
"This is just a suggestion until we find out what's going on," Trump told radio host Brian Kilmeade.