John McCain: May 2008 Archives
John McCain on Thursday rejected the endorsements of two controversial pastors, John Hagee and Rod Parsley. McCain gave up the months-old endorsement of Hagee after a recording surfaced in which the pastor portrayed Adolf Hitler as being sent by God to force Jews “to come back to the land of Israel.” Then in an interview with The Associated Press, McCain said he rejected Parsley's support, too. The revelation of these incendiary comments by ABC News was undoubtedly the tipping point, which motivated McCain to renounce Hagee’s endorsement and repudiate the comments. McCain had stopped short of rejecting the endorsements before—even as Hagee and Parsley’s anti-gay comments were swirling around the blogospere and in a few mainstream media outlets.
And since Hagee’s endorsement earlier this year, McCain has
only occasionally
commented on the pastor’s statements including a claim by Hagee that Hurricane Katrina was God’s judgment against the
city of
Most mainstream media have rarely mentioned Hagee’s anti-gay comments, and have remained silent on Parsley’s, despite a constant stream of reports documenting the two pastors. A few outlets however, such as MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” continued to hammer away at Hagee's anti-gay comments.
The media coverage of the Hagee and Parsley controversies underscores a degree to which anti-gay rhetoric is still not always given equal scrutiny by news media – a fact that will hopefully change as media professionals increasingly take note of the extreme anti-gay attitudes that still exist in mainstream politics.
Cindi Creager is the Director of National News
Every day in my work at GLAAD, I see the power that personal stories have to change hearts and minds about the issues that matter most to our community, issues that play a direct role in how we take care of the ones that we love, how secure we feel that we’ll be evaluated based on our work alone when we’re on the job and how safe we are in our communities.
More and more, our issues have played a meaningful role in the national conversation around the election, and that has a lot to do with the fact that our stories have been front and center in the media, creating opportunities for people to feel comfortable being open at home, at work, at their places of worship and in their communities.
However, unlike his counterparts, Sen. John McCain has been relatively silent on the key issues facing our community, though he has voiced opposition to marriage for gay and lesbian couples and previously supported a ballot initiative in his home state of Arizona (though he’s said he would not support a federal marriage ban). However, the media coverage of his stance on issues like employment and hate crimes – not to mention marriage – has been scant compared to coverage of Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama’s stance on those same issues.
Today, that changed. Sen. McCain appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres show, and Ellen asked him point-blank about his stance on marriage – and, as always, used her disarming sense of humor to drive the point home.
It was an awkward exchange – for a very important reason. When politicians speak about our issues in the abstract, it’s easier for them to dismiss the importance of our issues. Sen. McCain couldn’t do that – people know Ellen. And Portia. And as the audience response to both her initial announcement and her comments to McCain suggest, they fully support Ellen and Portia’s love and commitment to one another and their wish to be able to take care of each other.
The moment underscores just how important both our stories and their presence in the media have for our community. Though Sen. McCain said that he and Ellen had a “respectful disagreement” on the issue, those in the studio audience and watching at home knew what that “disagreement” might mean for Ellen and Portia.
With the recent California State Supreme Court ruling on marriage, our issues are back at the forefront of the national conversation in an election year with high stakes for our community. Thankfully, we all have an opportunity to make a difference by sharing our stories. And while they may not reach the same audience as Ellen’s, they still have tremendous power to change the hearts and minds of those who will play a significant role in determining what happens next for our community come November.
Rashad Robinson is the Senior Director of Media Programs
Following increased media scrutiny of the extreme statements made by Sen. John McCain-supporter Rev. John Hagee, the controversial televangelist issued a letter on May 12 apologizing for the disparaging comments he made about the Catholic community. In response, Sen. McCain said, “Whenever someone apologizes for something they did wrong, then I think that’s a laudable thing.”
While Rev. Hagee sought to make amends for his anti-Catholic comments, The New York Times reported that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) publicly commented on the fact that he did not apologize for his anti-gay comments. The televangelist has stood by his assertion that Hurricane Katrina was caused by God’s anger at New Orleans’ decision to host a gay pride parade.
Though the Times did print the DNC’s comment, many mainstream media outlets glossed over or ignored altogether that Rev. Hagee did not apologize for his anti-gay remarks. Though it is notable that the DNC called attention to his outrageous statements, it is unfortunate that many mainstream media outlets failed to address the fact that Rev. Hagee had only issued a partial apology. Hopefully in the coming weeks, media will continue to scrutinize Rev. Hagee and question why Sen. McCain has not encouraged him to issue a full apology.
Cindi Creager is the Director of National News.
As journalists continue to discuss the relationship between Sen. Barack Obama and his controversial former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright, prominent voices in the media are asking why the connection between Sen. John McCain and anti-gay televangelist Rev. John Hagee isn’t receiving equal attention in the news.
After Rev. Hagee again defended his contention that Hurricane Katrina was caused by God’s anger over New Orleans hosting of a gay pride parade, the May 8 edition of MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann replayed audio of Rev. Hagee’s extreme anti-gay comments and raised the question of why Sen. McCain’s relationship with the televangelist is not being widely scrutinized by the media. On the program, host Keith Olbermann talked with Washington Post columnist and associate editor Eugene H. Robinson about the unequal media coverage of Rev. Wright and Rev. Hagee. Robinson opined that a lack of diversity amongst leading journalists could be a reason that many reporters are not recognizing the newsworthiness of Rev. Hagee’s incendiary anti-gay views.
In addition to Olbermann, New York Times columnist Frank Rich devoted his May 4 column to address what he perceived to be a racially motivated double standard in the media coverage of the relationships between Sen. Obama and Rev. Wright and between Sen. McCain and Rev. Hagee. Noting Rev. Hagee’s anti-gay comments, Rich argued “If we’re to judge black candidates on their most controversial associates — and how quickly, sternly and completely they disown them — we must judge white politicians by the same yardstick.”
National journalists aren’t alone in raising questions about Rev. Hagee’s endorsement of Sen. McCain. Noting Rev. Hagee’s anti-gay rhetoric, Denver Post op-ed writer Gail Schoettler penned a May 7 piece concluding, “We need to look just as closely at the words of other ministers who preach contempt and hate. In this election year, maybe America will begin to hold all vicious preachers accountable for their loathsome words.”
With people such as Olbermann, Robinson, Rich and Schoettler calling on the media to hold Rev. Hagee accountable for his hateful anti-gay statements, it’s time for more journalists to ask Sen. McCain why he refuses to dissociate with him.
Cindi Creager is Director of National News
Over the past few months, cable and network news programs have been asking why Sen. John McCain’s campaign pursued the endorsement of anti-gay televangelist John Hagee. Media scrutiny of the Rev. Hagee reached a wider audience on ABC’s popular daytime talk show The View on April 30. During a heated exchange between co-hosts Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck about the political relevance of Sen. Barack Obama’s relationship with controversial pastor Jeremiah Wright, Behar quoted the Rev. Hagee’s statement that God’s anger at
After giving the audience the opportunity to hear the Rev. Hagee’s incendiary quote word for word, Behar questioned why his relationship to Sen. McCain hasn’t received the same attention and criticism as the Rev. Wright’s relationship to Sen. Obama. Though the hosts of The View often engage in political debates, this i
s the first time that involved discussion of the Rev. Hagee’s anti-gay statement has taken place on a daytime TV talk show.
The conversation on The View brought close scrutiny of Hagee’s comments to a much broader audience, and prompted Alan Colmes to ask guest pundits on the April 30 episode of Fox News’ Hannity & Colmes –which featured a clip from The View—to respond to the same issues that Behar addressed. In this unique election climate, it’s not uncommon for the lines between hard news and entertainment to be increasingly blurred, underscoring the degree to which a wider variety of media outlets are shaping public perception of all of the candidates.
Cindi Creager is Director of National News
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