Did President Bush declare that Paganism/Wicca is not a religion?

There was an answer in folklore that said that Pres. Bush had declared that Wicca wasn't a real religion. Did he really say that? Does anyone know where this information came from originally?

he said it, but didn't declare it or anything--then a few days later he choked on a pretzel and made an @SS out of himself in front of the entire world--he hasn't said anything about it since

Does anyone really care where this came from?

Because they're not religions. I'm agnostic, and I still think it's pretty fruity business. Read a book.

No the supreme Court ruled that Paganism/Wicca and Witchcraft were ligament religions. and there for subject to the laws governing all other recognized religions.

Ligament?

The President doesn't have the power to "Declare" who is or isn't a religion. He may not agree that Wicca is a religion, but who cares what he thinks anyway.

Here's a website that talks about Bush's comments, and the responses that his query got them.
http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/bushwicca.htm

These comments were made in June of 1999 before he was President.

"I don't think that witchcraft is a religion. I wish the military would rethink this decision."
-- George W. Bush to ABCNEWS, discussing Rituals being held at Fort Hood in Texas, June, 1999

Not... exactly. He said that he didn't think that witchcraft is a religion, right over the whole issue with Bob Barr raising a fuss over Wiccan practice at Fort Hood.

Now, if you want to split hairs, whether or not witchcraft is a religion is actually a debate that still pops up from time to time in the Pagan community - basically focusing on the fact that non-Wiccan witchcraft is not necessarily a religious practice as opposed to a magical practice. It's doubtful that Bush was aware of that, or even cared, so it's probably reasonable to say that he was referencing Wicca in his comment.

That said, he only stated his opinion, and his desire that they rethink the evaluation. Which, considering his role as commander-in-chief, he could have attempted to inflict upon them. Fortunately, he didn't, and so it just remains his opinion.

That's exactly what Bush said. He also said that he hopes that the Supreme Court reverses the decision. I thought he was an @SS before he said that, and I think of him as an even bigger @SS because of it!