Obama Leaves Trinity United Church of Christ To Save His Political Career
UPDATE: Obama’s statement added below.
Barack Obama has resigned his 20 year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago in the aftermath of inflammatory remarks by his longtime pastor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and more recent fiery remarks at the church by another minister.
Obama campaign communications director Robert Gibbs said Obama had resigned from the church “over the last few days.”
Campaign aides said they weren’t immediately certain how the resignation took place, whether by letter or in some other fashion, and were trying to find out.
Obama’s Statement:
This is not a decision I come to lightly … and it is one I make with some sadness,” Obama said at a news conference after campaign officials released a letter of resignation he sent to the church on Friday.
“I’m not denouncing the church and I’m not interested in people who want me to denounce the church,” he said, adding that the new pastor at Trinity and “the church have been suffering from the attention my campaign has focused on them.”
Obama said he and his wife have been discussing the issue since Wright’s appearance at the National Press Club in Washington last month, which reignited the furor over remarks Wright had made in various sermons at the church.
“I suspect we’ll find another church home for our family,” Obama said.
“It’s clear that now that I’m a candidate for president, every time something is said in the church by anyone associated with Trinity, including guest pastors, the remarks will imputed to me even if they totally conflict with my long-held views, statements and principles,” he said.
“I have no idea how it will impact my presidential campaign but I know it was the right thing to do for me and my family,” he said.
“This was a pretty personal decision and I was not trying to make political theater out of it,” he added.
But Not The Guy Below