It’s taken almost three months of uproar, but John McCain today finally rejected the endorsement of controversial Texas Rev. John Hagee. The move comes after audio of yet another controversial Hagee sermon was posted online this week. First reported by a group called Talk to Action and then linked on the Huffington Post, Hagee suggests in the sermon (which Talk to Action says dates back to the late 1990s) that the Nazis had been working on God’s behalf to drive the Jews from Europe back to Israel. According to Hagee, who once called the Catholic Church “a great whore,” Adolf Hitler was a “hunter” acting on God’s will to help Jews re-establish the state of Israel.
McCain, who aides say was unaware of Hagee’s controversial statements, had initially declined to reject the pastor’s endorsement until now, saying that while he didn’t agree with all of his views he did respect Hagee’s work on behalf of the state of Israel. But apparently, word of Hagee’s latest comment was too much. On the campaign trail today in California, McCain issued this statement:
Hope you didn’t miss that Rev. Wright dig. But wait… Literally within seconds of McCain’s statement, a second e-mail hit our in-box, this time from Hagee himself, who announced he was withdrawing his support from McCain:
And there you have it: McCain breaking up with Hagee; Hagee breaking up with McCain. It’s almost like a Seinfeld episode. Will Hagee’s comments continue to follow McCain on the campaign trail? Just as Obama’s opponents have done with Rev. Wright and his sermons, it’s almost a guarantee that someone is digging through statements of other pastors who have endorsed McCain, looking for more controversial soundbites.
