Wright Speaks Out About Obama, Media
Updated 3:25 PM CST, Mon, Jan 26, 2009
Jeremiah Wright made his most extensive comments to date about Barack Obama and the race for the presidency during a radio interview Tuesday evening.
He spoke for two hours with WVON's Cliff Kelley on everything from being glad that Obama was elected to the way he was portrayed in the media.
Wright insisted that the person that America grew accustomed to seeing -- portrayed in snippets of past sermons -- isn't who he really is.
And even as he watched with pride on Election Night, he said he's disappointed to still find himself as fodder for the media.
"It was a great evening with the exception of the media, as always. I was watching the CNN results and as they were praising President-Elect Obama they said he ran a flawless campaign. And one commentator said, 'No, no, there was the Jeremiah Wright incident.' Now, why, on Election Night, do you have to do that?" Wright said during the radio interview.
He said he feels the media vilified him, and points to an analysis of coverage by "The Monthly Review" magazine. It shows how often Wright was covered compared to other politically-linked pastors.
John McCain the controversial John Hagee were featured 583 times, while Obama and Wright were covered 6,146 times, often times picking up a similar narrative about him.
"(They were) using terms to describe me (such as) controversial, incendiary, inflammatory, and unpatriotic," Wright said.
Wright said the latter smacks in the face of his service as a U.S. Marine who cared for President Lyndon Johnson as a cardio-pulminary technician.
"Anything that he did, we had to be there," Wright said. "Whenever he had had any kind of surgery, even minor surgery, we had to scrub him and monitor him from the time he went in until he was discharged."
Obama eventually denounced Wright, and Wright said he family and his former church -- Trinity United Church of Christ -- and its current pastor, Otis Moss III, have suffered.
"Out pastor walked into a buzz saw. I mean, he walked into a buzz saw: bomb threats at the church, police sweeps," Wright said, listing a few of the repercussions.
Despite all that he's gone through, Wright said he holds no ill-will toward Obama and he reitered that he's glad he won the White House.
"I feel very good and very proud of him. I am sorry we're in two different professions," Wright said. "No hard feelings. No, not in terms of him. You do what you gotta do."
Wright is retired and continues to speak around the country. He said he believes he will one day get a chance to talk to Obama, even if it takes eight years.
First Published: Nov 25, 2008 10:13 PM CST
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