Hagee Pulls McCain Endorsement

"Hagee's decision to sever all ties to McCain is noble: He knows he has become a liability to McCain, even after he has made amends to Catholics." Bill Donohue

NEW YORK, NY (Catholic League) - Pastor John Hagee has pulled his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate John McCain;

McCain subsequently renounced Hagee's endorsement.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented on this development today:

"One week ago today, I met with Pastor Hagee in my office. I found him to be sincere, apologetic and friendly. I also found him to be the strongest Christian defender of Israel I have ever met, and that is why attempts to portray him as anything but a genuine friend to Jews--one for whom the Holocaust is the horror of horrors--is despicable.

"Hagee's decision to sever all ties to McCain is noble: He knows he has become a liability to McCain, even after he has made amends to Catholics.

What this proves is that Hagee, unlike Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is not an egocentric man. He is also not like the partisans at the Interfaith Alliance which today called on McCain to reject Hagee: when it was founded, the Interfaith Alliance received $25,000 in seed money from none other than the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

"Pastor Hagee can now move in the religious circles he has become accustomed to, and continue his ministry without distraction."

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The Catholic League is the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization. Founded in 1973 by the late Father Virgil C. Blum, S.J., the Catholic League defends the right of Catholics – lay and clergy alike – to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination. It is led by its' President, William A. Donohue, Ph.D.