Washington
29 April 2008
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has strongly denounced his controversial former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, saying he is outraged and saddened by Wright's latest comments. Senator Obama had come under increasing pressure to put more distance between himself and Wright after several high-profile appearances by the minister over the past several days. VOA Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington.
Videoclips from some of Wright's sermons emerged in March, with potentially explosive material for Obama's opponents to use against him.
Wright asserted that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks may have been in retaliation for U.S. foreign policy. In one of his sermons he said God should "damn" America for its treatment of African Americans. Wright also suggested the U.S. government created the HIV/AIDS virus to kill black people.
At Tuesday's news conference, Obama explicitly rejected Wright's statements as "ridiculous." He said he was particularly angry that Wright suggested he was only distancing himself from the comments for political purposes.
"And if Reverend Wright thinks that is 'political posturing', as he put it, then he does not know me very well," he added. "And based on his remarks yesterday, I may not know him as well as I thought either."
During a speech last month in Philadelphia, Senator Obama had condemned Wright's comments, but had said he could not disown the man who has been his pastor for 20 years, officiated his marriage ceremony and baptized his two young daughters. Tuesday, Obama said he no longer felt he knew the man.
Reverend Wright's return to the spotlight has distracted Senator Obama from focusing on gas prices and other economic issues as he campaigns hard in North Carolina and Indiana ahead of critical primaries against opponent Senator Hillary Clinton next Tuesday. Senator Clinton spent her time Tuesday in Indiana, doing just that, talking about high gas prices. She also won a key endorsement from North Carolina Governor Mike Easley.