New York's mayor Michael Bloomberg has urged Jewish voters in the United States to reject false rumors disseminated via the internet that the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is a secret Muslim. "Let's call those rumors what they are: lies," he said during a breakfast meeting with the Jewish community in southern Florida. "They are cloaked in concern for Israel, but the real concern is about partisan politics." The media entrepreneur, who is Jewish, is a former Democrat who ran for mayor as a Republican and became an independent last year. He ruled out an independent run for the presidency in February and has yet to throw his support behind either of the major party candidates, Obama or the Republican nominee John McCain.
"Israel is just being used as a pawn, which is not that surprising, since some people are willing to stoop to any level to win an election," Bloomberg told the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. "These demagogues are hoping to exploit the political differences between the Jewish and Muslim people to spread fear and mistrust," he said. "This is wedge politics at its worst, and we've got to reject it loudly, clearly, and unequivocally."
