CNN reports that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has finally rejected the support of radical pastor John Hagee. McCain’s repudiation comes as recent attention has turned to a sermon in which Hagee said that Hitler was fulfilling God’s will:

McCAIN: Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible and I repudiate them. I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee’s endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well.

The audio of Hagee’s remarks was first posted by Bruce Wilson on Talk to Action and later circulated by the Huffington Post.

In February, McCain said he was “very honored by Pastor John Hagee’s endorsement.” After controversy broke out over offensive comments made by Hagee, McCain originally evoked Hagee’s support for Israel as his reason for continuing to embrace his support. McCain’s full statement is here.

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UPDATE: Hagee has put out a statement saying that he withdraws his endorsement from McCain because he has “become a distraction in what should be a national debate about important issues.”

Earlier today, controversial pastor John Hagee issued an apology to the Catholic church for inflammatory comments he made in the past. But as ThinkProgress noted, Hagee has yet to apologize to other groups he has denigrated, such as the LGBT community. Asked today if he was still comfortable with Hagee’s endorsement, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) deflected the question, saying he merely “accepted” Hagee’s support and doesn’t embrace everything he says:

Look, as I’ve said many times I’ve accepted his endorsement. I didn’t endorse everything that he said. The point is that the fact that he has made an apology I think is very helpful.

But McCain didn’t just “accept” Hagee’s endorsement; he actively sought it. In fact, he “personally wooed Hagee for more than a year.” Hagee recently told the New York Times Magazine that “it’s true that McCain’s campaign sought my endorsement.”

Since February, when Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) accepted the long-sought endorsement of controversial Pastor John Hagee, the two have come under criticism for Hagee’s past descriptions of Catholicism as “‘The Great Whore,’ an ‘apostate church,’ the ‘anti-Christ,’ and a ‘false cult system.’” On multiple occasions, McCain has distanced himself from Hagee’s anti-Catholic comments while still maintaining that he is “glad” to have his endorsement.

Now, as the media spotlight on him increases, Hagee is attempting to make amends with the Catholic community. The Wall Street Journal reports that he “will issue a letter of apology to the Catholic Church today for inflammatory remarks he has made”:

“Out of a desire to advance greater unity among Catholics and Evangelicals in promoting the common good, I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful,” Hagee wrote, according to an advanced copy of the letter reviewed by Washington Wire. “After engaging in constructive dialogue with Catholic friends and leaders, I now have an improved understanding of the Catholic Church, its relation to the Jewish faith, and the history of anti-Catholicism.”

In the letter, addressed to Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League and one of Hagee’s biggest critics, Hagee pledges “a greater level of compassion and respect for my Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ.”

But anti-Catholic comments are not the only reason Hagee has sparked controversy. Just last month, he reiterated his prior claim that Hurricane Katrina was punishment to New Orleans for hosting a gay pride parade. Though he appeared to back away from the claim after McCain called it “nonsense,” he re-embraced it last week on a conference call with religious supporters.

Will Hagee issue a similar letter to the gay community pledging “a greater level of compassion and respect for my gay brothers and sisters in Christ?”

Two weeks ago, controversial Pastor John Hagee reiterated his prior belief that Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans because it was “planning a sinful” “homosexual rally.” Asked about the comments, McCain — who sought Hagee’s endorsement for more than a year — was forced to distance himself, calling them “nonsense” nine times.

After McCain was put on the spot over Hagee, the ultra-conservative pastor put out a statement seemingly retracting his comments on the cause of Hurricane Katrina:

“As a believing Christian, I see the hand of God in everything that happens here on earth, both the blessings and the curses,” Hagee said in a statement issued through his public relations firm. “But ultimately neither I nor any other person can know the mind of God concerning Hurricane Katrina. I should not have suggested otherwise. No matter what the cause of the storm, my heart goes out to all who suffered in this terrible tragedy. There but for the grace of God go any one of us.

But in a conference call yesterday, Hagee appeared to renege on his retraction, reportedly saying “God controls hurricanes and ‘God always punishes unconfessed sin’”:

When a woman on the call asked why he seemed to have backed away from his Katrina comments in face of criticism, Hagee said he hadn’t. As for the Katrina, he said, God controls hurricanes and “God always punishes unconfessed sin.” You do the math.

Though McCain has distanced himself from some of Hagee’s comments, he has yet to reject the pastor’s support. He now says it was a political “mistake” to seek Hagee’s endorsement, though he is still “glad to have” it.

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In addition to having previously referred to Catholicism as “The Great Whore,” controversial pastor John Hagee said on NPR in September 2006 that Hurricane Katrina was the result of God condemning New Orleans because “there was to be a homosexual parade there” the day the hurricane hit — a belief he recently reaffirmed.

Despite Hagee’s radical and bigoted beliefs, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) sought and received Hagee’s endorsement for president — one McCain said he was “very honored” to have. Since then, Hagee’s views have garnered more attention, sparking wider questions as to why McCain would accept such an endorsement.

In a recent article on the McCain/Hagee saga, Newsweek reports that McCain aides attribute the courting of Hagee’s support to “poor vetting.” But some from McCain’s own party wonder how his views could have “slipped through the cracks”:

McCain’s aides attribute the Hagee controversy to poor vetting. But even some Republicans (not affiliated with the campaign) privately wonder how the pastor’s extreme views slipped through without notice. McCain personally wooed Hagee for more than a year.

Indeed, “some Republicans” weren’t the only ones greeting this explanation with confusion. The New York Times’s Frank Rich noted yesterday that “[a]ny 12-year-old with a laptop could have vetted this preacher in 30 seconds, tops”:

Are we really to believe that neither Mr. McCain nor his camp knew anything then about Mr. Hagee’s views? This particular YouTube video — far from the only one — was posted on Jan. 1, nearly two months before the Hagee-McCain press conference. Mr. Hagee appears on multiple religious networks, including twice daily on the largest, Trinity Broadcasting, which reaches 75 million homes. Any 12-year-old with a laptop could have vetted this preacher in 30 seconds, tops.

Newsweek noted that McCain “likes to think of himself as a straight-shooter” but when asked about Hagee’s endorsement, McCain starts “bobbing and weaving” — which is exactly what happened last month during an interview on ABC’s This Week. McCain agreed that the endorsement was “a mistake,” but 30 seconds later said he is “glad to have it.”

In seeking Hagee’s support, perhaps McCain and his staff did not “properly” vet the controversial pastor because they were taking advice from McCain’s buddy Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who just last year compared Hagee to Moses.

Earlier this week, ThinkProgress reported that controversial Pastor John Hagee had reiterated his long-held contention that Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment to New Orleans for hosting a gay pride parade. Yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — who had recently said he was “glad” to have Hagee’s endorsement — distanced himself from Hagee’s comments, calling them “nonsense” nine times.

Now, Hagee has put out a statement saying that he “should not have suggested” that he knew “the mind of God concerning Hurricane Katrina”:

“As a believing Christian, I see the hand of God in everything that happens here on earth, both the blessings and the curses,” Hagee said in a statement issued through his public relations firm. “But ultimately neither I nor any other person can know the mind of God concerning Hurricane Katrina. I should not have suggested otherwise. No matter what the cause of the storm, my heart goes out to all who suffered in this terrible tragedy. There but for the grace of God go any one of us.

Yesterday, ThinkProgress highlighted a recent interview by Pastor John Hagee, in which he declared that New Orleans was struck by Hurricane Katrina because it was “planning a sinful” “homosexual rally.” We wondered, “will reporters ask whether [McCain] agrees with Hagee’s belief that the devastated city was cursed because of a gay pride parade?” Today, they did. Both NBC Nightly News and CNN aired segments on McCain’s attempts to distance himself from Hagee. But as NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell reported, “McCain did not reject the Hagee endorsement, but denounced the pastor’s words.” Watch a compilation:

Yesterday, ThinkProgress reported that controversial pastor John Hagee — whose endorsement Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) had said he was “glad to have” — had repeated in a recent radio interview his contention that Hurricane Katrina was punishment to New Orleans for hosting a gay pride parade. On his campaign bus today, McCain responded to Hagee’s comments, calling them “nonsense” at least “eight times”:

It’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense. I dont have anything additional to say. It’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, I don’t have anything more to say…it’s nonsense. I reject it categorically.

McCain has now said that he “categorically” rejects Hagee’s comments, but is he still “glad” to have his endorsement?

On September 18, 2006, Pastor John Hagee — whose endorsement Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said this past Sunday he was “glad to have” — told NPR’s Terry Gross that “Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.” “New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God,” Hagee said, because “there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came.”

On his radio show yesterday, right-wing talker Dennis Prager asked Hagee to respond to “the various charges made against him” in a fact sheet put out by the Democratic National Committee. Asked about his comments on Hurricane Katrina, Hagee said “the topic of that day was cursing and blessing”:

HAGEE: Yes. The topic of that day was cursing and blessing. … What happened in New Orleans looked like the curse of God, in time if New Orleans recovers and becomes the pristine city it can become it may in time be called a blessing. But at this time it’s called a curse.

Prager followed up by asking if all natural disasters are a result of “the divine hand” and if there is “any natural disaster that is not the result of sin?” Hagee responded by saying “it’s a result of God’s permissible will” and “that there was going to be a massive homosexual rally there the following Monday,” which he said “was sin”:

PRAGER: Right, but in the case, did NPR get, is this quote correct though that in the case of New Orleans you do feel it was sin?

HAGEE: In the case of New Orleans, their plan to have that homosexual rally was sin. But it never happened. The rally never happened.

PRAGER: No, I understand.

HAGEE: It was scheduled that Monday.

PRAGER: No, I’m only trying to understand that in the case of New Orleans, you do feel that God’s hand was in it because of a sinful city?

HAGEE: That it was a city that was planning a sinful conduct, yes.

Unconvinced by Hagee’s explanation, Prager said “frankly” that critics “can get you” for those comments “because people don’t like to hear that sort of thing.”

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In February, after working hard to gain Hagee’s endorsement, McCain said he was “very honored” to receive it. Since then, he has both “repudiate[d]” and defended Hagee’s anti-Catholic and “anti-anything” remarks. But as Think Progress has noted, McCain has never specifically commented on Hagee’s offensive beliefs about Hurricane Katrina or his anti-gay comments.

Given the fact that McCain will be in New Orleans tomorrow, will reporters ask whether he agrees with Hagee’s belief that the devastated city was cursed because of a gay pride parade? We’ll be watching.

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Transcript: Read more

Last February, hard-line conservative evangelical Pastor John Hagee endorsed Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) candidacy for president. Despite Hagee’s history of controversial and bigoted comments –- such as calling Catholicism “The Great Whore” and blaming Hurricane Katrina on gays –- McCain said he was “very honored” to receive the endorsement, one which he also reportedly sought.

McCain has since both “repudiate[d]” and defended Hagee’s intolerant remarks. But McCain’s double-talk on Hagee went a step further yesterday on ABC’s This Week when he seemed a bit confused as to whether or not he still accepts Hagee’s endorsement –- first agreeing that it was a “mistake” to accept it, but less than 30 seconds later saying he is “glad” to have it:

STEPHANOPOULOS: So was it a mistake to solicit and accept his endorsement?

MCCAIN: Oh, probably, sure. […]

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you no longer want his endorsement?

MCCAIN: I’m glad to have his endorsement. I condemn remarks that are, in any way, viewed as anti-anything. And thanks for asking.

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Indeed, McCain has been confused quite a bit lately on a wide range of issues:

– McCain has said waterboarding “should never be condoned in the U.S.” but voted against a bill banning the CIA from using torture, specifically including waterboarding.

– McCain says he is “a consistent supporter of educational benefits” for the military but has indicated he will not support the bipartisan 21st Century GI Bill.

– On at least three occasions, McCain baselessly claimed Iran is training Al Qaeda in Iraq but argued the error was an isolated slip of the tongue.

– McCain falsely suggested that Al-Qaeda in Iraq is a “sect of Shi’ites.”

– McCain falsely claimed Moktada al-Sadr “declared the cease-fire” after recent fighting in Basra and has said he is both a “major player” in Iraq and that his influence “has been on the wane for a long time.”

– Economists and nonpartisan analysts have said recently that the numbers in McCain’s economic plan simply “don’t add up.”

– McCain has made the elimination of earmarks a cornerstone of his presidential campaign but he can’t name any he would eliminate.

– In a matter of one day, McCain said Americans are both “better off” and “not better off” than they were before President Bush took office.

McCain’s latest 30-second flip-flop represents the political dance he must engage in to try to appeal to both the conservative evangelical wing of the Republican Party and independent-minded Americans. But despite all his back and forth, the media still seem happy to promote McCain’s self-proclaimed persona as a “straight-talking maverick.”