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November 21, 2008 5:24:34 PM CST

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Obama Recalls Sparring With Preacher

Posted Mar 24, 08 10:41 AM CDT in Politics 

(Newser) – “This is not a crackpot church,” Barack Obama told a conservative Philadelphia radio host in an interview defending Trinity Church, Politico reports. The Democratic hopeful says that despite Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s “very offensive views,” he built “one of the finest churches in Chicago. Witness the fact that Bill Clinton invited him to the White House when he was having his personal crises.”

In the interview, taped in advance to air today, Obama tells Michael Smerconish his campaign schedule prevented him from hearing Wright’s sermons over the last year. He says a call to the firebrand pastor a year ago “created some tensions.” He adds, "I wasn’t familiar with some of the most offensive remarks that had come up—otherwise we probably would have a more intense conversation."

Source Politico

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Parishioners attend Easter Mass at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.   (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Sen. Barack Obama said praised Jeremiah Wright for building "one of the finest churches in Chicago."   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Sen. Barack Obama said praised Jeremiah Wright for building "one of the finest churches in Chicago."   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Barack Obama says he didn't personally hear some of Jeremiah Wright's controversial sermons.   (AP Photo/Trinity United Church of Christ)
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Barack Obama • Bill Clinton • Chicago • Jeremiah Wright • church • poll numbers • Trinity United Church of Christ


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