Democrat and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke up against Ground Zero mosque yesterday.

“The First Amendment protects freedom of religion,” said the senator’s spokesman. “Senator Reid respects that, but thinks that the mosque should be built someplace else.”

Reid’s statement was released only a few hours after his Republican challenger, Sharron Angle, challenged him to declare his stand on the issue, all the while saying that Obama had “ignored the wishes of the American people.”

The controversial issue sparked an escalated debate as Republicans put the Democrats on the spot.

Obama had issued a statement in defense of the group’s right to build the Park 51, a mosque and cultural center worth $100 million, to be situated two blocks away from Ground Zero.
During an Islamic dinner at the White House on Friday night, Obama said Muslim Americans have “the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan in accordance with local laws and ordinances.”

But on Sunday, Obama released another statement, saying: “I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making a decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right that people have that dates back to our founding.”

Source: NY Post