Rev. Jesse Jackson was swift to apologize for his vulgar remark against presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama; apologizing before the comments were to air later that night, July 9, 2008, on Fox News on The O’Reilly Factor.
At a hastily arranged news conference Wednesday evening in Chicago, Jackson said he supports Obama “unequivocally” and that he hopes to “get this behind me.”
“I have great passion for this campaign and traveled across the country … arguing the case for the campaign,” Jackson said. “And this thing I said in a hot-mic statement that’s interpreted as a distraction, I offer apology for that. I don’t want harm or hurt to come to this campaign.”
He said, “They were hurtful and wrong … but we have a relationship that can survive this.”
[…]
Jackson was speaking to a fellow guest at the time about Obama’s speeches in black churches and his support for faith-based charities. Jackson added before going live, “I want to cut his nuts off.”
His microphone picked up the remarks.
Here is the video of the O’Reilly Factor segment on July 9, 2008 in which Bill O’Reilly played Jesse Jackson’s vulgar remark, ”
Jackson said in a written statement he was trying to emphasize that Obama’s moral message should “not only deal with the personal and moral responsibility of black males, but to deal with the collective moral responsibility of government and the public policy.”
Jackson said the conversation “does not reflect any disparagement on my part for the historic event in which we are involved or my pride in Senator Barack Obama, who is leading it, whom I have supported by crisscrossing this nation in every level of media and audience from the beginning in absolute terms.”
The Obama campaign took a measured response to the incident, contending in a statement that Obama has spoken for many years about parental responsibility as well as “jobs, justice and opportunity for all.”
Source: Jesse Jackson Apologizes for Crude Obama Remarks
Here is an MSNBC news report that includes excerpts from Jesse Jackson’s apology at a press conference on July 9, 2008.
The story broke yesterday on The Drudge Report and, as Chris Cillizza notes, this is a story in and of itself:
Witness the maelstrom set off by a Drudge headline posted last evening that blared: “CHICAGO SLAPDOWN: REV. JESSE JACKSON SAYS OBAMA TALKING DOWN TO BLACKS.”
The item, which featured a hint at the comments made about Barack Obama by Jackson in front of an active Fox News Channel mic and later reported on “The O’Reilly Factor“, immediately shot around the newsrooms of the country and reporters sprung into action.
The Post’s Jonathan Weisman posted a piece entitled: “It’s Jackson vs Jackson on ‘Ugly’ and ‘Demeaning’ Obama Remarks“; The New York Times “Caucus” blog wrote an item of their own — “Jackson Apologizes for Remarks on Obama” — as did the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal among many, many other news outlets. Every cable network covered the story extensively and the CBS and NBC evening news both fit the story into their ever-shrinking news hole.
While the story would almost certainly have gotten attention due to its salacious nature, make no mistake: Matt Drudge made that story and ensured that it dominated the world of political journalism for at least 24 hours.
Source: How Matt Drudge Rules the (Political) World
Barack Obama’s views and unsparing message about fatherhood and responsibility which provoked (unjustifiably) Jesse Jackson’s crude remark, are exemplified in the speech he gave on Father’s Day, and can be seen here:
Video: Jesse Jackson Barack Obama “Hot Mic” Comments Controversy
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