Panama City, Florida (CNN) -- President Barack Obama told CNN Saturday that in defending the right of Muslims to build a community center and mosque near ground zero in a speech Friday night, he was "not commenting on the wisdom" of the project but trying to uphold the broader principle that the government should treat "everyone equal, regardless" of religion.
"In this country, we treat everybody equally and in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion," Obama said after giving a speech on the Gulf Coast oil disaster in Panama City, Florida.
While speaking at a White House dinner celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Obama threw his support behind a controversial proposal to build an Islamic center and mosque near New York's ground zero, saying Friday that "Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country."
The president's remarks drew praise from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who announced his support for the Islamic center last week. Bloomberg compared Obama's speech to a letter former President George Washington wrote in support of a Jewish congregation in Newport, Rhode Island. Still, critics of the proposed Islamic center -- including Rep. Peter King (R-New York) -- quickly denounced Obama's remarks.
"President Obama is wrong," King said in a statement. "It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of Ground Zero. Unfortunately, the President caved into political correctness."
On Saturday, Obama said he "was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there."
"I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding," the president added. "That's what our country is about."
Obama, who on Friday said he was speaking both as a citizen and as president, invoked the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which critics of the Islamic center cite as the main reason for blocking its construction.
"We must all recognize and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of lower Manhattan," Obama said. "The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country."
"The pain and suffering experienced by those who lost loved ones is unimaginable," he continued. "So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. Ground zero is, indeed, hallowed ground."
The proposed Islamic center has provoked vocal opposition from some families of 9/11 victims and other groups. Nearly 70 percent of Americans oppose the plan, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll released Wednesday.
"In a breathtakingly inappropriate setting, the president has chosen to declare our memories of 9/11 obsolete and the sanctity of Ground Zero finished," Debra Burlingame, co-founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America, said in a statement Saturday.
"This controversy is not about religious freedom. 9/11 was more than a 'deeply traumatic event,' it was an act of war ... Those who continue to target and kill American civilians and U.S. troops will see it as a symbol of their historic progress at the site of their most bloody victory," she added.
The Islamic center's leaders say they plan to build the $100 million, 13-story facility called Cordoba House three blocks from the site of the 9/11 attacks. The developer, Sharif El-Gamal, describes the project as an "Islamic community center" that would include a 500-seat performing arts center, a lecture hall, a swimming pool, a gym, a culinary school, a restaurant and a prayer space for Muslims.
Other families of 9/11 victims said they support the proposed Islamic center, and the president's position.
"America, the concept and the people and the land thrive when we chose to trust in our principles rather than cave to our basest fears," Donna Marsh O'Connor, spokeswoman for September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, said in a statement.
"What better place for healing, reconciliation and understanding than Ground Zero?" she added.
On Wednesday, the project's developers declined an offer by New York Gov. David Paterson to relocate the project to a state-owned site.
Earlier this month, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously denied landmark status for the building where the proposed Islamic center would stand, allowing the project to move forward. source : CNN
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