Obama Says Pastor Was in a ‘Time Warp,’ Suggests He Would Have Left Church
Barack Obama says his controversial former pastor was stuck in a “time warp” and suggests he would have left his Chicago church had Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. not retired.
While still defending what he called the “broader aspect” of his long-time pastor, Obama said in a pre-taped interview with ABC’s “The View,” which aired Friday, that Wright’s most offensive sermons drew from an outdated view of America and its prejudices.
“What they spoke to was, I think, a brilliant man who was still caught in a time warp back in the ’60s, early ’70s and the ’50s, where he grew up, and had a sense of where America was and didn’t have a good enough sense of how it had changed,” he said.
Obama disputed what he called an overstated notion that Wright was his “spiritual adviser” or “mentor.”
Hillary Clinton earlier this week for the first time spoke out on the controversy over Wright, whose anti-American and racially charged sermons threatened Obama’s campaign. The New York senator said she would have left the church if her pastor behaved like Obama’s.
Asked what he’d do if the reverend had stayed on, Obama told “The View”: “Had the reverend not retired, and had he not acknowledged that what he had said had deeply offended people and were inappropriate and mischaracterized what I believe is the greatness of this country, for all its flaws, then I wouldn’t have felt comfortable staying at the church.”
As he did in his speech on race more than a week ago, Obama continued to defend Wright’s character. He said he spoke with him recently, and “I told him I feel badly that he has been characterized just in this one way. People haven’t seen this broader aspect of him.”
Obama reiterated that he never personally heard Wright’s most controversial sermons.
“Now keep in mind he’s preaching three times every Sunday and for 30 years, and I’m not vetting my pastor and I didn’t have a research team during the course of these 20 years go pull every sermon that he’s given and see if there’s something offensive that he said,” Obama said, adding that “I don’t purchase all the DVDs.”
In his sermons over the years, Wright has railed against the United States and accused it of bringing on the Sept. 11 attacks by spreading terrorism. He also has said the government invented AIDS to destroy “people of color” and has shouted “God damn America” for its treatment of minorities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Obama is still expecting the public to believe that a ” … Presidential candidate” did not observe any of this outrageous behavior over a 20 year period … and that he had no idea about what was on those DVD’s being sold by his church … if he cannot totally disavow all justification for Rev Wright’s language and intent then Obama isn’t courageous enough to lead America in a new direction as president.
Rev. Otis Moss III, who took Rev. Wrights place on Easter Sunday, is as off the wall as the previous Rev. Wright. Give me a break, Wright is Jesus now. He was lynched??? All that crap came out of Wright’s mouth and was not second hand information.
And, how convenient of Obama to again not be in his church on Easter Sunday no less, but on a vacation so “he wouldn’t hear” what the new Rev would say. Well, I wasn’t in his church either on Easter and I heard, as did the rest of the country, what the new Rev. said. What’s Obama excuse for the new good Reverend?
Do they think that everyone is an idiot??
Well for the first time in 12 years i was thinking of voting as a dem because of what bush has done whith the economy .but i feel the dems are shoving barck hussain down my throat.every time hillary looks like she is going to take another big state they tell her to step down now that hussains poll numbers are droping and it looks like she is going to sweep penn state the are wanting her to drop out again.if hussain is nomanated i will not vote for a RACIST white or black.
Evidently Obama was sleeping thru those sermons for the past 20 years kinda like President Clinton did not enhale in college.
Tim- You are the bigoted jerk! Obama is both Black and White. Tell me one racist thing the Obama has ever said.
Steve- It won’t be a time of War after Obama becomes president. He is not as stupid as you and Bush are.
It is obvious that most of you people are absolutly rasict but your to ignorant to look in the mirror and see it.
Puh-leeze!!! Who can honestly believe this man?
Frankly I am sick and tired of hearing about Obama’s pastor. Is he running for President ? No. Is he retired ? Yes. Leave the matter alone and keep us informed of what matters to the majority of voters, like : the war, the economy, health care, etc … Please !
LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE!!! Give me a break…this man is so full of it. He actually thinks we that stupid to listen to his continual flow of lies… Sure that was a really safe statement to make, but we all know he wouldn’t have!!! Why we he, he had already been there for 20 years. He knew he could say if because we have no way to prove he actually would. The only thing is, the new pastor is just as bad as wright, and don’t forget to mention that Wright is the senior pastor now, so he still oversees everything that goes on. He still is Obama’s spiritual advisor, he still mentors him and he is still spewing hate. Don’t care how you put a spin on it, nothing has changed and obama gets away with more and more lies!!!
Lies, Lies and more Lies, can’t people see through him. He says just what everyone wants to hear, when are people going to wake up?? Our nation is in trouble and we don’t need more in the name of Obama.
Why didn’t Obama leave the church when Reverand Wright glorified Louis Farrakahn? Why doesn’t he leave the church now when the new pastor calls criticism of Wright a “lynching”. Obama is nothing but inflated rhetoric. Hillary should stay on and fight and perhaps the stupid electorate that elected George Bush twice will wake up and support Hillary.