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Jesse Jr. Scolds Dad for 'Ugly Rhetoric'

Jackson's son rejects his father's 'divisive' Obama comments

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 9, 2008 6:45 PM CDT

(Newser) – Jesse Jackson is taking heat for his admittedly "crude and hurtful" comments about Barack Obama, and his own son is leading the charge. "I'm deeply outraged and disappointed," said Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill. Jackson called his father's remarks—in which he said he wanted to cut Obama's "n*** out" for "talking down to black people"—"divisive and demeaning" and said they undercut the elder Jackson's long fight for civil rights, the Washington Post reports.

A contrite Jackson has apologized for the comments, unintentionally caught by a microphone, and the Obama camp issued a statement accepting the apology but defending the senator's right to address "parental responsibility" in the black community. "Reverend Jackson is my dad and I'll always love him," said Jackson's son, a national co-chair of Obama's campaign. But "I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric."

Rev. Jesse Jackson comments on Thursday's Supreme Court Ruling on handgun ownership Friday, June 27, 2008, in Chicago.
Rev. Jesse Jackson comments on Thursday's Supreme Court Ruling on handgun ownership Friday, June 27, 2008, in Chicago.   (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., right, listens as Rev. Jesse Jackson responds to a question in Rosemont, Ill., Monday, June 4, 2007.
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., right, listens as Rev. Jesse Jackson responds to a question in Rosemont, Ill., Monday, June 4, 2007.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
President Bush, flanked by Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., left, and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., in this Dec. 18, 2007, file photo.
President Bush, flanked by Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., left, and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., in this Dec. 18, 2007, file photo.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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