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McCain Rejects Hagee Endorsement and "Crazy" Comments on Holocaust

May 22, 2008 4:48 PM

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., this afternoon rejected the endorsement of Pastor John Hagee after a sermon was publicized in which Hagen suggested Adolph Hitler and the Holocaust were caused by God so as to bring about the creation of the state of Israel.

A source close to McCain told ABC News the Arizona senator thinks these sentiments are crazy, and that back in February when the campaign accepted Hagee's endorsement, no one on the campaign, and certainly not McCain, had any idea that Hagee believed these types of things.

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

Hagee had quoted the book of Jeremiah saying, "Behold I will bring them the Jewish people again unto their land that I gave unto their fathers. Behold I will send for many fishers and after will I send for many hunters. And they the hunters shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and from out of the holes of the rocks."

Hagee suggested that Hitler as a hunter, and as a result of the Holocaust, Jews had been brought back to the land God gave unto their fathers.

Hagee's sermon about the Holocaust was broken at the liberal website Talk2Action.  You can hear Hagee's sermon HERE.

McCain tried to make sure voters did not see his Hagee issue in the same light as the controversy involving Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, and his controversial former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

"I have said I do not believe Senator Obama shares Reverend Wright's extreme views," McCain said. "But let me also be clear, Reverend Hagee was not and is not my pastor or spiritual advisor, and I did not attend his church for twenty years.  I have denounced statements he made immediately upon learning of them, as I do again today."

Immediately upon receiving Hagee's endorsement in February in San Antonio, McCain was asked if he shared Hagee's "End of Days" views of Armageddon. McCain said he was not aware of them. And as days past, McCain found himself increasingly under fire for other Hagee views, particularly about Catholics. As months progressed, McCain tried to distance himself from Hagee's comments, then he condemned them, then he said Hagee had not been properly vetted.

Hagee issued a statement this afternoon saying that ever since he endorsed McCain, "people seeking to attack Senator McCain have combed my records for statements they can use for political gain.  They have had no qualms about grossly misrepresenting my position on issues most near and dear to my heart if it serves their political ambitions. I am tired of these baseless attacks and fear that they have become a distraction in what should be a national debate about important issues."

Hagee then suggested that rather than McCain having rejected his endorsement, he had taken it back. "I have therefore decided to withdraw my endorsement of Senator McCain for President effective today, and to remove myself from any active role in the 2008 campaign," Hagee said. "I hope that the Senator McCain will accept this withdrawal so that he may focus on the issues that are most important to America and the world." 

A fuller excerpt of the sermon is as follows:

HAGEE: "Again he said unto me “Prophesy unto these bones, and say unto them, ‘O you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!' And he spoke to them and they stood and they became an exceeding great army - meaning they physically came to life.

"Now how is God going to bring them back to the land? The answer is fishers and hunters. The answer is given in Jeremiah 16, verse 15 and following.

"God says in Jeremiah 16 - 'Behold I will bring them the Jewish people again unto their land that I gave unto their fathers' - that would be Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - 'behold I will send for many fishers and after will I send for many hunters. And they the hunters shall hunt them' - that will be the Jews - 'from every mountain and from every hill and from out of the holes of the rocks.'

"If that doesn't describe what Hitler did in the Holocaust, you can't see that.

"So think about this - I will send fishers and I will send hunters. A fisher is someone who entices you with a bait. How many of you know who Theodore Herzl was? How many of you don't have a clue who he was? Whooo. Sweet God! Theodore Herzl is the father of Zionism. He was a Jew that at the turn of the 19th century said, 'This land is our land, God wants us to live there.' So he went to the Jews of Europe and said, 'I want you to come and join me in the land of Israel.'

"So few went, Herzl went into depression. Those who came founded Israel; those who did not went through the hell of the Holocaust.

"Then God sent a hunter. A hunter is someone who comes with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter. And the Bible says - Jeremiah righty? - 'They shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and out of the holes of the rocks,' meaning: there's no place to hide. And that will be offensive to some people. Well, dear heart, be offended: I didn't write it. Jeremiah wrote it. It was the truth and it is the truth.

"How did it happen? Because God allowed it to happen. Why did it happen? Because God said, 'my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel.' Today Israel is back in the land and they are at Ezekiel 37 and 8. They are physically alive but they're not spiritually alive. Now how is God going to cause the Jewish people to come spiritually alive and say, 'the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He is God'?"

- jpt

May 22, 2008 in 2008: Republicans | Permalink | Share | User Comments (144)

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I may not have wanted McCain to be the nominee, but it is what it is, and it's more important, now, to make sure a Democrat doesn't take the White House. I'll vote for the lesser of two evils.

Posted by: Faisal Smith | May 23, 2008 10:14:52 AM

Think I'm gonna check out Bob Barr or see what Ron Paul is going to do in the general election. I just can't trust McCain.
Posted by: PhilBgood | May 23, 2008 10:07:44 AM
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Fine. Then you don't care that you will enable and empower a Democrat to take office.

Posted by: "Waffie" von Waffenschmidt | May 23, 2008 10:11:11 AM

So now you decide to throw Hagee under the bus after soliciting his endorsement. Flip Flop McCain. Can't makeup your mind what you want to do, can ya? Think I'm gonna check out Bob Barr or see what Ron Paul is going to do in the general election. I just can't trust McCain.

Posted by: PhilBgood | May 23, 2008 10:07:44 AM

"United We Stand; Devided We Fall" Obama is Uniting people and Hillary and using every trick in the book to Devide us! Its not a hard choice to vote for the right person here, Obama For President!

Posted by: Demo Rules | May 23, 2008 9:23:04 AM

well its about time the media dug into this- all the hand ringing and nay saying about Wright, and here's Hagee saying the holocaust was gods will. I think its time this country really took the notion "separation between church and state" seriously.

Posted by: -jr- | May 23, 2008 9:20:26 AM

Well if anyone knows "crazy", it's McCain. He's nuttier than a fruit cake.
Posted by: Lee | May 23, 2008 8:44:15 AM
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Don't vote for him, then.

Posted by: Mr. Incredible | May 23, 2008 9:19:30 AM

TANGLED UP IN GOD

Posted by: Dan Pasternak | May 23, 2008 9:19:22 AM

know hit hit'em >>>>> what hit'em

Posted by: Mr. Incredible | May 23, 2008 8:55:28 AM

Well if anyone knows "crazy", it's McCain. He's nuttier than a fruit cake.

Posted by: Lee | May 23, 2008 8:44:15 AM

OOPS! My bad. That should be 50 States.

Posted by: Mr. Incredible | May 23, 2008 8:02:55 AM

THAT purdy much sums it all up! Thanks, 40 States!

Posted by: Mr. Incredible | May 23, 2008 8:01:52 AM

^^The enlightened forms of all religions (post enlightenment Christianity; Talmudic Judaism; Sufi Islam; Taoism; most of Buddhism; much of Hinduism; teach that there are many paths to honor, respect and show gratitude for the gift of life.^^

Soooo, Jesus was a liar????

^^America was not founded by Christians. It was founded by a mix of people who had a multiplicity of beliefs.^^

Not true.

^^This is a country made of Citizens not Christians, and Christians who don't know that disgrace our constitution.^^

Those who first settled this place were Christians bent on advancing Christianity which is a relationship, not religion. Islam is an example of religion, and so is atheism.

^^You are not allowing me freedom of religion to not be a Christian.^^

Nobody is stopping you.

Posted by: Mr. Incredible | May 23, 2008 7:52:31 AM

obamabreaker: There are so many misconceptions in your comment that it's hard to know where to start, so I'll just dive in: FIRST: Not every 'religion believes they are right and the other is wrong.' Only the primitive, ignorant and backward forms of some religions believe that. The enlightened forms of all religions (post enlightenment Christianity; Talmudic Judaism; Sufi Islam; Taoism; most of Buddhism; much of Hinduism; teach that there are many paths to honor, respect and show gratitude for the gift of life. If you want to get serious, I wrote over 25 years ago: "God is a reason to love; religion an excuse to hate. Religion is the god of bigots." I'll stand by that, today. SECOND: America was not founded by Christians. It was founded by a mix of people who had a multiplicity of beliefs. The most important thinkers among our founding fathers are arguably Thomas Jefferson, James Madison & Benjamin Franklin. It is a great stretch of the Fundamentalist's twisted reading of history to call them anything but "Deists" and if you can't distinguish between a Deist is a Christian, you probably can't tell a Bluegill from a Bass well enough to keep a fishing license. This is a country made of Citizens not Christians, and Christians who don't know that disgrace our constitution. You are not allowing me freedom of religion to not be a Christian. But I know some Christians and it is clear that the religion is more difficult when you try practicing it yourself rather than imposing in upon other people. There's more... but I don't have to defend Senator Obama from absurd charges by people who repeat nonsense and choose to believe malicious lies.

WHY HAS THIS COMMENT BEEN REMOVED TWICE?

Posted by: Joey Tranchina | May 23, 2008 7:19:40 AM

arure: "If you don't believe he was sucking up to the Jews, you must be from another plant." How about Mc
Cain was "sucking up" to the brain-dead, fringe Christians, until confronted with comments that were so stupid an so outrageous that they turned his stomach and, as badly as he wants to be president, he couldn't keep from rejecting the comments and the creeps who made the comments. That's probably just a small and mostly naive hope that John McCain has not completely sold his soul for ambition.

Posted by: Joey Tranchina | May 23, 2008 6:14:54 AM

"The media seems to portray that McCain is just backing off because of the Jewish vote. Isn't it possible that he just really is offended by such outrageous and insane remarks?
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yeah right, like for the one yr the where chasing his endorsement non of his staffers took time to study what the guy was about. If you dont believe he is sucking up to the Jews then you must be from another planet

Posted by: arure | May 23, 2008 5:56:42 AM

Larry: Your comment about the disintegration of John McCain's character is one of the best observations I've read on these ABC blogs. If the Republican Party had had the horse-sense to nominate the John McCain of 2000, I would have proudly voted for him. He was a true independent --- a person of clear character, courage & integrity. Obviously, he learned the painful lesson and compromised every bit of his independence to gain the acceptance of fools, which is required to win primaries in the GOP. Anyone, who believes John McCain is stupid enough to honestly believe that "Creation Science" is anything but bad theology, can vote for the joke that's left of John McCain... not me.

Posted by: Joey Tranchina | May 23, 2008 4:53:45 AM

McCain has just lost my and half of the Texas' votes.
Posted by: kimmi770 | May 22, 2008 6:03:47 PM
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Then, you people will empower and enable a Democrat to be president. You prefer THAT. Beautiful.

Posted by: Faisal Smith | May 23, 2008 4:37:55 AM

looks like another flip-flop by senior citizen McCain. He loved Minister Hagee and praised him for weeks and weeks. This week, he hates him.
Posted by: Mike in Chicago | May 22, 2008 9:16:45 PM
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Where and when did McCain say that he now "hates" him???

Posted by: Faisal Smith | May 23, 2008 4:25:08 AM

Hagee makes Jeremiah Wright look like a perfectly reasonable, if misguided, fellow. The fact is you don't have to strip-mine 20 years of these guys sermons to find fin 20 minutes of lunacy. These guys put it in their books and it is regular fodder for their sermons. And, in case nobody noticed, Jews, in large numbers, began settling in Palestine before the FIRST World War. Hagee doesn't even know the history of Zionism. He does know how to hustle suckers with his absolute confidence in preposterous nonsense. The fact is, these folks play to audiences of desperate people who actually pay to believe this ignorant, malicious tripe. All of that would be none of my business, if these cheap con-men were not also telling their sheep how to vote. Remember, these fundamentalist Christian cults constitute "the base" of the Republican Party. With teachers like Hagee, is it any wonder that they (69% of registered Republicans) still think George Bush is a good president? I guess everybody's got to get their information somewhere.

Posted by: Joey Tranchina | May 23, 2008 4:24:49 AM

So just because Hagee prises america his hate is okay?Give me a break!!
Posted by: Laron | May 22, 2008 9:42:21 PM
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What hate??

Posted by: Mr. Incredible | May 23, 2008 4:23:31 AM

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