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Confirmed: McCain To Appear With Virginia GOP Chairman Who Compared Obama To Osama Bin Laden

Earlier this week, Time magazine’s Karen Tumulty reported on how Jeffrey Frederick, the chairman of the Virginia Republican party, gave GOP volunteers talking points on “the connection between Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden.” “Both have friends that bombed the Pentagon,” Frederick told 30 volunteers. “That is scary.”

Though McCain campaign spokesperson Gail Gitchoo told the Washington Post that “the McCain campaign disagrees with the comparison that Jeff Frederick made,” McCain himself refused to denounce Frederick’s comments. Asked by Virginia television station WSLS if Frederick’s comparison was “appropriate,” McCain said, “I have to look at the context of his remarks.” Watch it:

Frederick, for his part, is standing by his words. “It is just the hard facts,” he told the Washington Post. Despite Frederick’s outrageous comments, McCain is set to appear with him in Virginia on Saturday:

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The McCain/Palin campaign announced today that Senator John McCain will visit Virginia once again this week. The Republican Presidential nominee will hold a campaign rally at the Prince William County Complex here in Woodbridge on Saturday, October 18th.

“Prince William is the key to Senator McCain winning Virginia, and his visit here will only reinforce that Prince William is McCain country,” said Delegate Jeffrey M. Frederick, Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia and a member of the Virginia General Assembly from Woodbridge.

Contacted by ThinkProgress today, the Virginia Republican Party said that Frederick is “expected to be there on Saturday.” During the debate last night, McCain said that “every time there’s been an out-of-bounds remark made by a Republican, no matter where they are, I have repudiated them.”

Instead of repudiating Frederick, McCain is set to appear with him.