WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says he’s disappointed in former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for saying he doesn’t think President Barack Obama loves the United States.

Johnson tells CNN’s “State of the Union” that Giuliani’s words are “very regrettable.”

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Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani questioned President Barack Obama’s love of country, and urged the potential field of Republican presidential candidates to rebuke his comments. The Associated Press

Johnson notes that he was once hired by fellow New Yorker Giuliani as a federal prosecutor and that more recently, the two visited fire stations and police precincts in Lower Manhattan on the Sept. 11 anniversary.

Johnson says he’s admired Giuliani’s response to the 2011 attacks but says he’s sorry to see the former mayor make his recent statements.

At an event in New York last week, Giuliani said: “I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America.”