Tim Russert is grilling Obama on whether he accepts Louis Farrakhan's support, forcing him to distance himself from the Nation of Islam leader of frequent anti-Semitic talking points.
He goes on to note that Obama's controversial pastor Jeremiah Wright, is a fan of Farrakhan's.
Obama had to distance himself from the two in a meeting with Cleveland Jewish leaders this week:
However, the pastor of his church, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, has created problems for Obama in Jewish circles. A magazine connected to Wright honored Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, and last month Obama said he condemned "the anti-Semitic statements made by Minister Farrakhan" and disagreed with a decision to honor him.
Wright, Obama said Sunday, "is like an old uncle who sometimes will say things that I don't agree with. And I suspect there are some of the people in this room who have heard relatives say some things that they don't agree with, including, on occasion, directed at African Americans. ... I am not suggesting that's definitive."
Obama also distanced himself from Zbigniew Brzezinski, the national security adviser in the Jimmy Carter administration who traveled to Iowa with Obama when he made an Iraq speech.
"I do not share his views with respect to Israel. I have said so clearly and unequivocally," Obama said. "He's not one of my key advisers. I've had lunch with him once. I've exchanged e-mails with him maybe three times. He came to Iowa to introduce ... for a speech on Iraq."
Recommended
Obama, of course, defuses the whole issue with a joke about the difference between "rejecting" and "denouncing," and the audience is laughing at Hillary's insertion of her own "rejection" of anti-Semitic supporters. Sorry, Hill. You can't win, can you?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member