Obama's former pastor blames media, racism for criticism
Story By: Bea Karnes
Source: NBC
For the third time in four days, Barack Obama's former pastor is out in public and aggressively defending himself. Monday morning at the National Press Club in Washington, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright said the media unfairly took portions of his sermons out of context.
The debate continues over whether Wright's remarks are helping or hurting Obama's campaign. Rev. Wright was often lighthearted and engaging. He explained a lot, but didn't apologize for anything. "This is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright, it is an attack on the black church," Wright said.
He also explained the sound bite that thrust him into the national spotlight, and out of Obama's campaign. Days after Sept. 11th, Wright suggested the United States was paying for its past sins. Sen. Obama felt the heat when the comments exploded last month.
"He did not denounce me. He distanced himself from some of my remarks, like most of you never having heard the sermon," Wright said about Obama's reaction. "He had to distance himself because he's a politician."
On Sunday, Obama said he understands why Wright is going public to defend himself and why it's news, albeit it's not good news for his campaign. "I think that people were legitimately offended by some of the comments he made in the past. The fact that he's my former pastor I think makes it a legitimate political issue," Obama said.
Rev. Wright told an NAACP group that he's working on a book to be released late this year. It could hit shelves right around election time.
