October 8, 2008 3:07:46 AM CDT
(Newser) – Red-faced civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has again had to apologize to the nation's first black presidential candidate, this time over his use of a racial slur in off-air comments during the taping of a FOX show, reports AP. Fox News confirmed that Jackson said Obama is "talking down to black people, telling n—s how to behave" after a transcript was leaked to TVNewser. Jackson had earlier apologized for his "hurtful words," but his use of a racial slur hadn't been reported.
Jackson has spearheaded a campaign to convince rappers, actors, and other entertainers to stop using the epithet—and in fact once led a Seinfeld boycott to protest Michael Richards' infamous use of it. "I am deeply saddened and distressed by the pain and sorrow that I have caused as a result of my hurtful words," said Jackson in a statement. "I apologize again to Senator Barrack (sic) Obama, Michelle Obama, their children as well as to the American public. There really is no justification for my comments and I hope that the Obama family and the American public will forgive me."
Sources: ABC News, Mediabistro blogs, Associated Press
Sep 30, 08 3:24 PM CDT Joe Biden’s freewheeling style makes him a big hit on campaign stops, and he usually draws front-page headlines in the towns he visits. But often, those stories carry word of the VP hopeful’s latest slip-up. Biden has lived up to his reputation as a gaffe machine, contradicting his running mate and misstating facts time and again, the Washington Post reports. More »
Sep 10, 08 6:10 AM CDT John McCain's campaign has accused Barack Obama of bringing politics down to barnyard level after he compared its talk of change to "putting lipstick on a pig," the New York Post reports. McCain representatives charged that the line was a thinly veiled personal attack on Sarah Palin, and demanded the candidate apologize. More »
Sep 5, 08 11:10 AM CDT An Atlanta-area Congressman described Barack and Michelle Obama as belonging to "an elitist class ... that thinks that they’re uppity,” CQPolitics reports. Lynn Westmoreland's comments, inspired by questions about recent speeches by Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama, touched off a linguistic battle over the word's racial implications. "I’ve never heard that term used in a racially derogatory sense," Westmoreland, who is white, said in a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. More »
Aug 25, 08 5:28 PM CDT Here's what to watch at the Democratic National Convention tonight, Politico reports:
Aug 25, 08 3:34 PM CDT Barack Obama is like Jackie Robinson: he’s got to perform despite racist taunts, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., son of the civil-rights leader, said during a Politico-sponsored panel discussion today ahead of the Democratic convention. Like the baseball pioneer, Obama “has to keep smiling,” in the face of vicious rumors “because no one wants an angry African American in the White House,” Jackson said. More »
Barack Obama • Jesse Jackson • Al Sharpton • gaffe • racial slurs
