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The Rev. John Hagee made headlines recently after presumptive GOP nominee John McCain rejected his support following revelations that Hagee said in the late '90s that God sent Adolf Hitler to help get Jews to the promised land of Israel.

Now the Associated Press reports that Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut Democrat-turned-independent who is a strong McCain supporter, has not abandoned Hagee. Lieberman will speak at a July conference hosted by the pastor, "Christians United for Israel," in Washington.

According to the AP, Lieberman said that "while Hagee's comments were unacceptable and hurtful, he will judge him on his life work fighting anti-Semitism and building bridges between Christians and Jews."

Hagee has been criticized for his comments about other groups as well. He suggested that "Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans," noting “there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came.” Hagee also made derogatory statements about the Catholic Church, including referring to it as "the great Whore," for which he later apologized.

John Hagee, the pastor who endorsed John McCain and subsequently saw his support repudiated, said today that his life's work has been "mischaracterized and attacked," the Associated Press reports.

"I have worked tirelessly to eliminate the sin of anti-Semitism from the Christian world and to ensure the survival of the state of Israel," Hagee said at a news conference.

McCain rejected Hagee's support following revelations that the pastor had said Adolf Hitler was sent by God to get Jews to the Promised Land. Hagee has also withdrawn his support from the presumptive GOP nominee.

Hagee also said today that he doesn't condone the Holocaust, calling Hitler a "monster." His break with McCain, he added, is "best for both of us and the country."

On Wednesday, John McCain received the endorsement of Pastor John Hagee, the evangelical Texas mega-church leader.

The endorsement could help McCain shore up support amongst conservatives in a state where Mike Huckabee has been running relatively strongly. Huckabee complained about Hagee's decision to back McCain, saying, “I felt that it was totally out of character for what I knew he believed. Or at least I thought he did.”

But what Hagee believes could turn out to be a problem for McCain, if the reaction over the past few days is any indication. As CBS News' Dante Higgins points out, Catholic leaders asked McCain to distance himself from Hagee over anti-Catholic comments such as calling the Catholic Church "The Great Whore."

McCain responded to a question on the issue today by saying that while he is "very proud of the Pastor John Hagee’s spiritual leadership to thousands of people and I am proud of his commitment to the independence and the freedom of the state of Israel," it "does not mean that I support or endorse or agree with some of the things that Pastor John Hagee might have said or positions that he may have taken on other issues."

And there are, it turns out, a fair share of "other issues" to worry about. Bloggers such as Salon's Glenn Greenwald have been pouring through Hagee's record and uncovering controversial statements on a whole range of issues. The pastor made this comment in an interview with NPR:

"All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that.

The newspaper carried the story in our local area, that was not carried nationally, that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it would was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other gay pride parades.

So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing."

Hagee also said, in the same interview, "Islam in general -- those who live by the Koran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews."

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