The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the pastor whose sermons caused controversy for President Obama during the 2008 campaign, spoke to the Washington Post this week about the president, who has since distanced himself from Wright.
Wright expressed dismay with the press for their portrayal of Obama, his former congregant.
“It is unrealistic to think that one person can change the mess that this country has gotten into, but to pick on him is like picking on one of my kids,” Wright said. “I have been knowing him for 20 years.”
“I have not stopped loving him because of what the press did, and to see him beat up on because of things he is not responsible for is painful,” he said, adding that he does not expect to speak with Obama until he is out of office.
He also lashed out at the press coverage of his own family, saying reporters staked out his granddaughter’s senior prom.
Wright recounted what he told Obama after he won his Senate seat: “Don’t let politics change you.”
Watch:
Wright became an extremely controversial figure after videos surfaced of him exclaiming, “God damn America,” among other things. Obama had attended Wright’s church for 20 years, and Wright performed the first couple’s marriage.
