The White House was forced yesterday to reaffirm President Obama’s Christian faith after shocking polls found that 1 out of every 4 or 5 Americans falsely believe he’s a Muslim — a considerable increase from last year.
“The president is obviously a Christian. He prays every day,” White House spokesman Bill Burton told reporters.
“He communicates with his religious adviser every single day. There’s a group of pastors that he takes counsel from on a regular basis. And his faith is very important to him, but it’s not something that is a topic of conversation every single day.”
A separate White House statement stressed that Obama’s “strong Christian faith is what guides him” in facing the nation’s challenges. “But he doesn’t wear it on his sleeve,” the press office added.
The president’s flacks also complained that Obama’s faith is “often maligned and distorted by critics.”
The White House discussed the matter after a Time magazine survey found that 24 percent of Americans — about 1 in 4 — believe the president is Muslim. That poll questioned 1,000 respondents on Monday and Tuesday after Obama’s comments on the proposed Ground Zero mosque.
In addition, a Pew Research Center survey found that 18 percent erroneously identified Obama as a Muslim — up from 11 percent last year.
The 3,000 respondents were queried before Obama’s speech last week backing an Islamic group’s right to build a mosque and community center.
The Pew poll also found that nearly two-thirds of Americans failed to identify Christianity as the president’s faith, also a big increase from last year.
The president’s full name is Barack Hussein Obama and he’s the Christian son of a Muslim Kenyan father and Kansas Christian mother.
“It’s a problem because he’s been in office for nearly two years. He has not defined himself fully,” said Republican consultant Ed Rollins, who advised Ronald Reagan.