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Kerry Says Charlie Hebdo Terror Had a 'Rationale'

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is under fire for saying the Charlie Hebdo massacre had more of an understandable "rationale" than the Paris terrorist attacks on Friday.

Kerry made the comments while visiting Paris to show solidarity with France.

He told the staff at the U.S. Embassy there that the January attack against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo had a "rationale" behind it, to "aggrieve one particular sense of wrong."

"There was a sort of particularized focus and perhaps even a legitimacy in terms of – not a legitimacy, but a rationale that you could attach yourself to somehow and say, 'Okay, they're really angry because of this and that,'" Kerry said.

Islamic terrorists murdered the staff at the magazine for exercising their freedom of speech by publishing cartoons of Islam's founder, Mohammed.

Numerous Republican lawakers and politicians are criticizing Kerry for his comments, saying they appear to defend the rationale used by the Islamic terrorists who carried out that attack.

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush tweeted: "@JohnKerry's comments sum up the Left's distorted view of barbaric islamic terrorism."

GOP candidate George Pataki tweeted: "@hillaryclinton said #benghazi was due to a video, @johnkerry a cartoon is "rationale" for #hebdo - team Obama is simply a disgrace."

"There was absolutely nothing legitimate or rational about the slaughter of 10 newspaper staff and two police officers in Paris earlier this year," said Rep. Edward Royce, R-Calif, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"Freedom of the press and freedom of expression are pillars of our free world, and we can never allow radical Islamists to use these fundamental rights to justify their evil acts. Secretary Kerry is plain wrong," Royce continued.

State Department spokesman John Kirby defended Kerry on Twitter, saying he "didn't justify Hebdo attacks, simply explained how terrorists tried to. As he said at time, it was a cowardly & despicable act."

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