McCain on Muslim Flap: ‘I’m Not Talmudic’

ABC News’ Teddy Davis and Bret Hovell Report: Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was questioned Sunday about a recent interview in which he suggested that he would be more comfortable with a Christian rather than a Muslim president.

"Well, I didn’t say it," said McCain. "And we clarified it, and I’ll continue to clarify it. I’m not Talmudic … I believe that anybody can be president of the United States of any faith."

McCain offered his, "I’m not Talmudic," comments during a Sunday evening house party in Hollis, N.H. He was answering a question from a woman who wanted to know, "how is it possible to delineate that we are a Christian country when we are really made up of so many different mosaics."

McCain was attempting to clarify comments he made to BeliefNet, a multi-faith e-community, about how a Muslim presidential candidate would fare in a country which McCain described as having been founded on Judeo-Christian principles.

"I’d prefer someone who I know has a solid grounding in my faith," McCain told BeliefNet, quickly adding, "But that doesn’t mean that I’m sure that someone who was Muslim would not make a good president."

Watch McCain’s BeliefNet interview here.

Speaking Sunday in New Hampshire, McCain took issue with his comments being interpreted to mean that he sees the U.S. as strictly a "Christian nation."

McCain told BeliefNet "I would probably have to say ‘yes,’ that the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation."

He quickly added, however, in his BeliefNet interview that he meant that "in the broadest sense".

"I am very angry that my remarks were interpreted that way," McCain said Sunday in New Hampshire.

"Frankly I kind of resent that," he added. "I resent it because it’s clear and I have been clear throughout my life that I am not a person who imposes my faith on anyone. Nor do I talk about it much publicly because I think it’s basically a private thing between myself and my God."

While he does not view the United States as a country that only welcomes Christians, he did say Sunday that he thinks the United States was founded on Judeo-Christian values.

"What I do say," said McCain, "and I can prove it, I think, looking at the Federalist papers and looking at the statements made by our founding fathers that they were motivated by Judeo-Christian values."

Earlier Sunday, while speaking to reporters, McCain maintained that his comments were being over-analyzed.

"Maybe I should have just kept my comments to the fact that I’m a practicing Christian, that I respect all religions and beliefs," said McCain. "And that I support the principles of the founding fathers of this nation. Perhaps I should have kept my remarks to that rather than get into a Talmudic discussion."