June 18, 2009 6:21 PM
- Text
Obama's Pastor Protests "Unfair" Treatment
(CBS/AP)
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, former pastor to Barack Obama, said that publicizing sound bites of sermons in which he condemned U.S. policies was "unfair" and "devious," and done by people who know nothing about his church, according to excerpts of an interview released Thursday.
Wright said that, as an activist, he is accustomed to being "at odds with the establishment," but the response to the sermons has been "very, very unsettling."
The interview, scheduled for broadcast Friday night, is the first the pastor has given since video of his preaching gained national attention in March, putting Democratic presidential hopeful Obama on the defensive.
Among the most remarked upon sound bites was Wright proclaiming from the pulpit "God damn America" for its racism. He accused the government of flooding black neighborhoods with drugs.
The controversy forced Obama to explain his 20-year association with the minister, who is stepping down from Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
"The blowing up of sermons preached 15, seven, six years ago and now becoming a media event, not the full sermon, but the snippets from the sermon ... having made me the target of hatred, yes, that is something very new," Wright told "Bill Moyers' Journal" on PBS.
"I felt it was unfair. I felt it was unjust. I felt it was untrue. I felt - for those who were doing that - were doing it for some very devious reasons," he said.
In a March 18 speech in Philadelphia, Obama described the history of injustice that fueled Wright's comments, while also condemning his pastor's statements and acknowledging white resentment of African-Americans.
Asked his response to the senator's speech, Wright said, "He's a politician, I'm a pastor."
"I do what I do. He does what politicians do," Wright said. "What happened in Philadelphia, where he had to respond to the sound bites, he responded as a politician."
Wright said he has never heard Obama repeat any of the pastor's controversial statements as his own opinion. "No, no, no. Absolutely not," Wright said.
Wright gave the interview as presumptive Republican nominee John McCain and the North Carolina Republican Party argue over a TV ad with Obama and the pastor scheduled to run Monday, ahead of the state's crucial May 6 primary. A narrator in the spot says, "He's just too extreme for North Carolina."
McCain has asked local officials not to run the ad, but the state Republican Party said no.
"The Republican party of the state of North Carolina is dead wrong," McCain said on CBS News' The Early Show. "They are an independent organization. I'll do everything in my power to make sure not only they stop it but that kind of leadership is rejected. And the overwhelming majority of republicans in North Carolina share my view." (Read more about McCain's efforts to stop the ad and others like it.)
Wright is scheduled to speak Monday at the National Press Club in Washington.
Wright said that, as an activist, he is accustomed to being "at odds with the establishment," but the response to the sermons has been "very, very unsettling."
The interview, scheduled for broadcast Friday night, is the first the pastor has given since video of his preaching gained national attention in March, putting Democratic presidential hopeful Obama on the defensive.
Among the most remarked upon sound bites was Wright proclaiming from the pulpit "God damn America" for its racism. He accused the government of flooding black neighborhoods with drugs.
The controversy forced Obama to explain his 20-year association with the minister, who is stepping down from Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
"The blowing up of sermons preached 15, seven, six years ago and now becoming a media event, not the full sermon, but the snippets from the sermon ... having made me the target of hatred, yes, that is something very new," Wright told "Bill Moyers' Journal" on PBS.
"I felt it was unfair. I felt it was unjust. I felt it was untrue. I felt - for those who were doing that - were doing it for some very devious reasons," he said.
In a March 18 speech in Philadelphia, Obama described the history of injustice that fueled Wright's comments, while also condemning his pastor's statements and acknowledging white resentment of African-Americans.
Asked his response to the senator's speech, Wright said, "He's a politician, I'm a pastor."
"I do what I do. He does what politicians do," Wright said. "What happened in Philadelphia, where he had to respond to the sound bites, he responded as a politician."
Wright said he has never heard Obama repeat any of the pastor's controversial statements as his own opinion. "No, no, no. Absolutely not," Wright said.
Wright gave the interview as presumptive Republican nominee John McCain and the North Carolina Republican Party argue over a TV ad with Obama and the pastor scheduled to run Monday, ahead of the state's crucial May 6 primary. A narrator in the spot says, "He's just too extreme for North Carolina."
McCain has asked local officials not to run the ad, but the state Republican Party said no.
"The Republican party of the state of North Carolina is dead wrong," McCain said on CBS News' The Early Show. "They are an independent organization. I'll do everything in my power to make sure not only they stop it but that kind of leadership is rejected. And the overwhelming majority of republicans in North Carolina share my view." (Read more about McCain's efforts to stop the ad and others like it.)
Wright is scheduled to speak Monday at the National Press Club in Washington.
Popular Now in Politics
- Archbishop Dolan urges Obama to back down on birth control
- Santorum sweeps Missouri, Minnesota, Colorado
- After Tues. sweep, Santorum seeks to gain speed
- STOCK Act passes in House
- Fallon vs. Obama in fitness challenge
- Contraception issue heats up as Santorum gains
- Congressional approval hits another all-time low
- Former Giffords aide to run for her House seat
- What Does 'GOP' Stand For?
- Dems fight back in contraceptive battle
- Rick Santorum finally gets his moment
- Obama leads Romney in Virginia poll
- No more Mr. Nice Guy for Santorum
- Mitt Romney glitter bombed, calls it confetti
- Santorum: I'm the consistent social conservative
- Callista Gingrich: The quiet wife
- White House under pressure over contraception
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook
on CBS News
- Sinking
- Rep. Bachus faces insider-trading investigation
- Singapore DBS bank profit jumps 7.8 percent in 4Q
- Owner of Sierra mine surrenders to face charges
on Facebook
- Adele opens up about vocal cord surgery
- Tenn. father charged with murdering couple who"unfriended" daughter on Facebook
- Mo. teen gets life in prison for murder of 9-year-old girl
on CBS News





