Rev Wright

Rev. Jeremiah Wright sorry, but gets ripped by Jewish group ADL
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June 11, 2009

FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright apologized and said he "misspoke" and meant "Zionists" when he said earlier this week that "them Jews" were keeping him from talking to President Obama.

Wright, according to Sirius Radio, called into Mark Thompson’s daily show on the network to explain his comments to the Daily Press of Newport News, Va. Wright called in from the Hampton Ministers' Conference, an annual gathering of African-American ministers in Virginia.

Wright, who was Obama's pastor in Chicago, had told the Daily Press he hadn't spoken to Obama since he became president: "Them Jews aren't going to let him talk to me. I told my baby daughter, that he'll talk to me in five years when he's a lame duck, or in eight years when he's out of office."

Wright issued a statement Thursday that he was “disturbed and deeply saddened” that his comments were stirring discussion.

“I apologize for the way I framed my comments. I misspoke and I sincerely meant no harm or ill-will to the American Jewish community or the Obama administration,” Wright said. “I have great respect for the Jewish faith and the foundational (and central) part of our Judeo-Christian tradition.”

But Lonnie Nasatir of the Anti-Defamation League's Chicago office said Wright was expressing "classic anti-Semitism."