Obama Calls Wright's Remarks `Ridiculous,' Offensive (Update1)
By Kristin Jensen
April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama denounced ``ridiculous'' statements made by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, using his strongest language to date to distance himself from his former pastor.
Obama cited Wright's contentions, repeated yesterday, that the government may have had a role in spreading AIDS in the black community, that U.S. actions overseas were partly to blame for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and about the importance of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Wright's statements ``offend me, they rightly offend all Americans and they should be denounced and that's what I'm doing very clearly and unequivocally today,'' Obama said in a news conference in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Wright's statements and past sermons have presented an obstacle for Obama as he tries to win over working-class white voters in the remaining Democratic primaries. Recorded snippets from some of Wright's sermons already have been used by Republicans in North Carolina against local Democrats. Obama and his rival, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, face their next test May 6 in contests in Indiana and North Carolina.
New Obstacle
Political analysts said the timing and content of Wright's remarks complicates Obama's efforts to broaden his base of support among white voters and may hurt him if he emerges as the Democratic nominee.
Obama's ``crucial goal'' is trying to connect with working- class voters and the Wright controversy is making that harder, said Glenn Totten, a Democratic political consultant who isn't affiliated with either presidential campaign.
``Every day he has to confront the issue of Wright's rhetoric, he inflames exactly that portion of the electorate he needs to draw to him,'' Totten said.
``It's a fiasco,'' said Michael A. Genovese, chairman of the Institute for Leadership Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. ``With friends like these, who needs enemies?''
Genovese said that while the Wright controversy by itself isn't likely to kill Obama's chances for the nomination, it will resurface in the general election.
Republicans ``are going to pound on this ad nauseam,'' Genovese said.
Wright has been pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Obama has worshipped for two decades. He presided at Obama's wedding and at the baptisms of Obama's daughters. Until five days ago, Wright largely had stayed out of public forums since the controversy broke last month.
Obama `Shocked'
Obama said he was ``shocked'' by Wright's statements during a speech at the National Press Club yesterday in Washington.
``The person I saw yesterday was not the person I had come to know over 20 years,'' said Obama, an Illinois senator.
Wright repeated some of his most controversial statements during a speech and when answering questions yesterday. Asked whether he still believed the U.S. government shares the blame for the Sept. 11 attacks, Wright responded:
``You can't do terrorism on other people and expect it never to come back on you. Those are biblical principles, not Jeremiah Wright bombastic, divisive principles.''
Wright was unapologetic about his praise for Farrakhan, the Chicago-based leader of the Nation of Islam. Obama has denounced Farrakhan's support of his candidacy and condemned him as an anti-Semite. Wright's church gave Farrakhan an award last year for his influence on the black community.
Farrakhan `Important' Voice
``When Louis Farrakhan speaks, it's like E.F. Hutton speaks, all black America listens. Whether they agree with him or not, they listen,'' Wright said, adding that he doesn't agree with all of Farrakhan's views. ``He's one of the most important voices in the 20th and 21st century.''
Obama called such statements ``outrageous'' and ``appalling.'' He said Wright ``does not speak for me, he does not speak for my campaign.''
He said he was most angry that Wright seemed to suggest Obama's rejection of his remarks was only political. ``If Reverend Wright thinks that's political posturing, as he put it, then he doesn't know me very well,'' Obama said. ``I may not know him as well as I thought.''
Wright yesterday repeated a previous comment that Obama's effort to distance himself was politically motivated ``based on electability, based on sound bites, based on polls.''
Obama called that statement ``a show of disrespect to me'' and an insult to his supporters.
Changed Relationship
The candidate said he hadn't had a conversation with Wright before the news conference. He said he spoke to the pastor after giving a speech last month in Philadelphia in which he distanced himself from Wright's statements. In that speech, Obama said he wouldn't ``disown'' Wright even though he disagreed with his statements.
``Obviously whatever relationship that I had with Reverend Wright has changed as a consequence of this,'' Obama said today. ``I don't think that he showed much concern for me; I don't think he showed much concern for what we're trying to do.''
Obama is leading Clinton, 1,724 to 1,593, in the race for delegates who will select the Democratic nominee, according to an unofficial tally by the Associated Press. He has been leading in polls of North Carolina Democrats and trailing in the most recent polls in Indiana.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kristin Jensen in North Carolina at kjensen@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: April 29, 2008 15:29 EDT |
