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Priest, Obama Express Regrets For Clinton Rant

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The New York Times

Published: May 31, 2008

CHICAGO - Reverberations from the Sunday sermon of a Roman Catholic priest who mocked Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at Sen. Barack Obama's home church here continued to spread Friday, after the priest offered an apology and the archbishop of Chicago gave him a public reprimand for "partisan campaigning."

In a guest appearance at Trinity United Church of Christ, the priest, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, who resigned about two weeks ago from an unpaid position on the Obama campaign's Catholic advisory council, delivered a tirade against Clinton that included fake tears, a high-pitched voice and top-of-the-lungs screaming. He also gave a racially tinged critique of so-called "white entitlement," of which he says Clinton is guilty.

"I really believe that she just always thought: 'This is mine. I'm Bill's wife, I'm white and this is mine. I just got to get up and step into the plate,'" said Pfleger, 59, the white pastor of a predominantly black South Side church. "And then, out of nowhere, came, 'Hey, I'm Barack Obama.' And she said, 'Oh, damn. Where did you come from? I'm white. I'm entitled. There's a black man stealing my show.' "

Pfleger, a well-known longtime activist and friend of Obama, issued an apology late Thursday.

"I regret the words I chose on Sunday," Pfleger said. "These words are inconsistent with Senator Obama's life and message, and I am deeply sorry if they offended Senator Clinton or anyone else who saw them."

In a statement issued Thursday, Obama, who was not at the church during the sermon, said he was "deeply disappointed" with Pfleger's "backward-looking" remarks.

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