Feb 29, 2008 11:50 pm US/Central
McCain Under Fire Over Texas Pastor's Endorsement
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Today, it was Republican frontrunner John McCain's turn to answer mounting questions about one of his supporters, the Rev. John Hagee, a San Antonio pastor with a worldwide broadcast ministry, reports CBS News senior political correspondent Jeff Greenfield.
Hagee has offered some highly provocative views on a variety of subjects.
For instance, he linked Hurricane Katrina to the gay rights movement: " … All of the city was punished because of the sin that happened there in that city."
He has also denounced the Roman Catholic Church as "the great whore of Babylon" and "a cult." He blames it for the Holocaust and predicts its imminent demise.
"This is the apostate church," Hagee said. " … this false religious system is going to be totally devoured by the anti-Christ."
In a statement, Catholics United said: "We hope Senator McCain will take the principled position of publicly and unequivocally distancing himself from Pastor Hagee's anti-Catholic comments."
And Bill Donahue of the Catholic League offered a tougher view: "I do want a clear-cut statement from McCain saying that he knows Catholics have been offended, when this man hagee calls my religon the great whore and a false cult system."
Today, Sen. McCain offered carefully measured words: "I don't have to agree with everyone who endorses my candidacy," he said. "They are supporting my candidacy. I am not endorsing some of their positions."
He added that he was "proud" of Hagee's spiritual leadership of his congregation at the 17,000-member Cornerstone Church.
The Catholic League and Catholics United called on McCain to reject the endorsement.
"By publicly addressing this issue, you will reaffirm to the American
public and to Catholics that intolerance and bigotry have no place in
American presidential campaigns," Chris Korzen, executive director of
Catholics United, wrote McCain in a letter sent Thursday.
"Hagee's hate speech has no place in public discourse, and McCain's
embrace of this figure raises serious questions about John McCain's
character and his willingness to do anything to win," said Tom McMahon,
executive director of the Democratic National Committee.
The question is whether Pastor Hagee's view on the Catholic Church constitutes "a position" or a view that the presumptive Republican nominee has to address head on.
This dust-up may also make it a lot tougher for Republicans to criticize Barack Obama for some of his more controversial supporters.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
