Obama: "I Did Not Vet My Pastor Before I Decided To Run For The Presidency"

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Barack Obama today said he was both angered and saddened by Rev. Jeremiah Wright's appearance at the National Press Club on Monday and that his comments do not represent him or his campaign.

"I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday," Obama said. "I have been a member of Trinity United Church of Christ since 1992. I've known Rev. Wright for almost 20 years. The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago."

At a press conference specifically organized to address Wright's recent appearances, Obama repeatedly described Wright's comments as a "performance" and a "bunch of rants." He accused Wright of selfishly causing a distraction from issues related to voters and the campaign; "what mattered was him commanding center stage."

Obama said Wright's comments were disrespectful to him and that they should not be attributed to him. "I want to make absolutely clear that I do not subscribe to the views that he expressed. I believe they are wrong," Obama said. "I think they are destructive and to the extent that he continues to speak out, I do not expect those views to be attributed to me."
He said his speech on race in Philadelphia was to give context to the issue, but that he never excused Rev. Wright's comments, which he still says he never heard while attending the Trinity United Church.

"During the course of me attending that church, I had not heard those kinds of statements being made, or those kinds of views being prompted, and I did not vet my pastor before I decided to run for the presidency, I was a member of the church," Obama said. "So I think what it says, is that I had not, I did not run my pastor through the paces, or review every one of the sermons he had made over the last 30 years, but I don't think that anybody could attribute those ideas to me."

Obama admitted that the controversy surrounding Wright has caused "great damage" to their relationship and that their friendship will not be the same. He made a strong effort through out the press conference to distance himself from Wright and minimize their relationship.

"He was never my 'spiritual advisor,'" Obama said. "He was never my spiritual mentor; he was my pastor." But he was on Obama's spiritual advisory committee as recently as March. Wright has since left that position.