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WASHINGTON: Republican John McCain faced down a fiery evangelical
pastor backing his White House bid who, it was revealed, believed
the Nazis did God’s will by chasing Jews from Europe.
But while McCain disavowed Texas pastor John
Hagee, the Arizona senator aimed a pointed dig at his Democratic
rival Barack Obama’s own preacher problems in observing that he
himself had never been part of Hagee’s flock.
The issue, which has the potential to embarrass
McCain among independent voters, erupted Thursday as he and Obama
traded highly personal invective over a bill to give college
education to Iraq and Afghan war veterans.
Hagee is a well-known television evangelist who
founded the strongly pro-Israel Cornerstone Church in San Antonio,
Texas. It has 19,000 members, according to his website.
On Thursday, the Huffington Post website posted
audio of his remarks in a 1990s sermon, and published comments he
made saying Adolf Hitler was a “hunter” sent by God to herd Jews
to the land of Israel.
“Why did it happen? Because God said my top
priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the
land of Israel,” Hagee was quoted as saying.
McCain, the presumed Republican presidential
nominee, called the remarks “deeply offensive and indefensible,
and I repudiate them.”
“I did not know of them before Reverend
Hagee’s endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as
well.”
Some commentators have compared the episode to
Obama’s own political drama over racially tinged sermons by his
former pastor Jeremiah Wright, which threw the Illinois senator’s
campaign onto the defensive for weeks.
McCain stressed: “I have said I do not believe
Senator Obama shares Reverend Wright’s extreme views.
“But let me also be clear, Reverend Hagee was
not and is not my pastor or spiritual adviser, and I did not attend
his church for 20 years.”
-- AFP
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