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Obama’s preacher back in focus after televised interview

US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s efforts to shift attention away from the fiery remarks of his former pastor were set back with the broadcast of an interview in which the preacher says his quotes condemning the US were taken out of context by people “for some very devious reasons.”

The interview comes as Obama, the front-runner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, is campaigning in Indiana.

His rival, Hillary Clinton, has argued that she is better positioned and more experienced to withstand bare-knuckle Republican attacks ahead of the November presidential election. Her supporters have pointed to Obama’s relationship with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright as one of his biggest vulnerabilities if he is the nominee.

Last month Obama made a well-received speech on racism in the US in a bid to defuse the attention given to Wright, who has said in sermons that the US brought the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on itself and is “damned” by God for its history of slavery and racism.

But the issue has not gone away. Republicans in North Carolina, which holds its primary on May 6, have already begun airing TV ads featuring Wright in an attempt to taint the state’s Democratic gubernatorial candidates because of their support for Obama.

The ads call Obama “too extreme for North Carolina.”

Wright’s remarks were again receiving attention on cable news channels on Friday — along with excerpts from the PBS television interview broadcast that evening. The interview is the first the pastor has given since video of his preaching gained national attention last month.

In the interview, Wright said his sermon blaming US policies for the Sept. 11 attacks was a warning against vengeance and the view that all US actions are perfect, according to transcripts released on Friday.

Wright said he was in Newark, New Jersey, when the terrorist strike occurred and, from his hotel window, he said he saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center. Some of his congregants lost loved ones in the Pentagon and at the World Trade Center, he said.

“We want revenge.” Wright told Bill Moyers’ Journal. “They wanted revenge.”

“God doesn’t want to leave you there, however. God wants redemption,” he said.

Wright told Moyers that “the persons who have heard the entire sermon understand the communication perfectly.”

The pastor said that the video is being publicized by people who want to make him out to be a fanatic instead of someone expressing problems with US policies.

Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain has distanced himself from the North Carolina Republican Party’s use of the Wright ads, calling them offensive. He has asked the party not to air them, but they refused.

Despite the ads, Obama is favored to win North Carolina.
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