Obama ‘Unequivocally’ Denounces Wright

In his strongest terms yet, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) rejected his pastor of 20 years at a press conference in North Carolina this afternoon. Obama called Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s remarks at the National Press Club yesterday a "performance" that angered him.

"I want to make absolutely clear that I do not subscribe to the views that he suggests," Obama said. "I think they are wrong, I think they are destructive."

Obama referred to Wright’s continued claims that Louis Farrakhan was one of the greatest voices of the 21st century, that the U.S. government was involved in the development of AIDS and equating U.S. military action with terrorism. Wright also suggested that Obama’s recent denouncements were done solely for political reasons.

Those remarks "offend me," Obama said, "and they should be denounced and that is what I’m doing unequivocally today."

Wright’s remarks, he added, "do not portray acccurately the perspective of the black church. They certainly do not portray accurately my values and beliefs. If Rev. Wright thinks that’s political posturing than he does not know me very well and based on what I saw yesterday, I may not know him very well."

Obama’s remarks are clearly his attempt to end the current media cycle that has tied him to Wright. Obama appeared angered at his former pastor and this is his way of disassociating himself from a man whose comments he said "shocked" him. Obviously, there will significant coverage of this presser, but it will be interesting to see if the furor about Wright settles down in a day or two. It will also be interesting to see if Wright responds to these remarks. Wright’s ego was clearly bruised when Obama distanced himself from him – and this won’t help that.