Blitzer & Sen. Hutchison Both Blow it on McCain/Hagee

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

This morning on CNN’s Late Edition, Wolf Blitzer asked McCain supporter Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) about McCain’s embrace of anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic Pastor John Hagee.

There’s a couple things to watch in this passage, first is how Blitzer completely misstates what actually happened. “Should John McCain repudiate and reject the comments, the support from John Hagee just as Barack Obama has done that with the Rev. Louis Farrakhan (sic)?”

Let’s be clear what happened here. John McCain solicited the support and endorsement of Hagee and then he held a joint appearance with Hagee in which he formally endorsed him. In these terms, Obama has no connection whatsoever to Farrakhan. He’s just someone who said positive things about Obama. So the premise for even asking Obama is dubious in itself, whereas McCain has openly embraced Hagee.

As you can see Hutchison steadfastly refuses to reject or denounce or even say what she or McCain disagrees with Hagee about. Her big point seems to be that even if Hagee calls the Catholic Church the “great whore” and “anti-Christ” that he still supports Israel and has a big congregation whose support McCain needs. Let’s go to the tape …

Latest Editors' Blog
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: