McCain’s pastor problem: He drops two in one day

Sen. John McCain’s efforts to beef up his presidential credentials with the religious right were dealt another blow Thursday evening as he rejected the endorsement of two high-profile preachers.

McCain sought out and later defended the endorsement of Texas preacher John Hagee, a controversy that has spanned three months. Hagee’s comments denigrating Roman Catholics and asserting that God sent a hurricane to punish New Orleans because of a gay pride parade caused McCain to put some distance between himself and the preacher, but revelations this week that Hagee once said that God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the Promised Land caused the McCain campaign to drop Hagee like a hot potato.

Hours later, in an interview with the Associated Press (AP), McCain publicly rejected the endorsement of Ohio preacher Rod Parsley (pictured above with McCain) over statements Parsley made that America was founded to destroy Islam.

In a statement on Hagee, McCain said: “Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them. I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee’s endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well.”

On Parsley, McCain told the AP, “I believe there is no place for that kind of dialog in America, and I believe that even though he endorsed me, and I didn’t endorse him, the fact is that I repudiate such talk, and I reject his endorsement.”

Hagee’s sermon saying God sent Hitler:

Parsley’s sermon on America being founded to destroy Islam: