Richard Tafoya
Apr 29th, 2008, 01:01 PM
LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-campaign30apr30,0,2298507.story
Democrat Barack Obama today denounced his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, saying that the fiery minister's "ridiculous propositions" that the United States spread AIDS in the black community and invited the 9/11 terrorist attacks contradicted "everything that I'm about and who I am."
Calling Wright's most recent comments "a bunch of rants that aren't grounded in truth," a visibly angered Obama accused his former pastor of enjoying his recent three-day media blitz -- topped by Monday's appearance at the National Press Club -- at the expense of the campaign and the issues that confront voters.
"The reason that our campaign has been so successful is that we had moved beyond these arguments," Obama said at a news conference in North Carolina, which will hold its presidential primary Tuesday. "Yesterday was a resurfacing and an exploitation of those old divisions.... It is antithetical to our campaign."
Wright first became an issue in the Obama campaign last month when video clips surfaced of some of his most controversial sermons. Obama, in response, gave a major speech in Philadelphia on race relations, saying that he denounced the pastor's ideas but not the man.
Today, remarking that "I did not vet my pastor before I decided to run for the presidency," Obama said Wright's latest comments "offend me, rightly offend all Americans, and they should be denounced. That's what I'm doing very clearly and unequivocably today."
Asked why he had waited a day before distancing himself from Wright's latest attacks on U.S. policy, Obama said he did not view the pastor's entire appearance until last night. He said that both he and his wife, Michelle, who were married by Wright, were angered by what they saw, their relationship with the Trinity United Church of Christ now strained.
"The outrageousness of his performance during the question-and-answer period yesterday shocked me," Obama said. "I don't think anybody could attribute those beliefs to me."
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-campaign30apr30,0,2298507.story
Democrat Barack Obama today denounced his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, saying that the fiery minister's "ridiculous propositions" that the United States spread AIDS in the black community and invited the 9/11 terrorist attacks contradicted "everything that I'm about and who I am."
Calling Wright's most recent comments "a bunch of rants that aren't grounded in truth," a visibly angered Obama accused his former pastor of enjoying his recent three-day media blitz -- topped by Monday's appearance at the National Press Club -- at the expense of the campaign and the issues that confront voters.
"The reason that our campaign has been so successful is that we had moved beyond these arguments," Obama said at a news conference in North Carolina, which will hold its presidential primary Tuesday. "Yesterday was a resurfacing and an exploitation of those old divisions.... It is antithetical to our campaign."
Wright first became an issue in the Obama campaign last month when video clips surfaced of some of his most controversial sermons. Obama, in response, gave a major speech in Philadelphia on race relations, saying that he denounced the pastor's ideas but not the man.
Today, remarking that "I did not vet my pastor before I decided to run for the presidency," Obama said Wright's latest comments "offend me, rightly offend all Americans, and they should be denounced. That's what I'm doing very clearly and unequivocably today."
Asked why he had waited a day before distancing himself from Wright's latest attacks on U.S. policy, Obama said he did not view the pastor's entire appearance until last night. He said that both he and his wife, Michelle, who were married by Wright, were angered by what they saw, their relationship with the Trinity United Church of Christ now strained.
"The outrageousness of his performance during the question-and-answer period yesterday shocked me," Obama said. "I don't think anybody could attribute those beliefs to me."