Rev. Wright, in PBS Interview, Defends Sermons and Calls Coverage 'Unfair'

By Shailagh Murray
Washington Post blog

Sen. Barack Obama's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, told PBS host Bill Moyers that inflammatory statements from his sermons were taken out of context, but he said he didn't begrudge the Democratic candidate for denouncing them.

"He's a politician, I'm a pastor. We speak to two different audiences. And he says what he has to say as a politician. I say what I have to say as a pastor. But they're two different worlds," said Wright, who recently retired from Trinity United Church of Christ on the south side of Chicago, where Obama has attended services for 20 years.

Wright's interview with Moyers, excerpted today, is scheduled for broadcast Friday night on PBS and represents his first high-profile appearance after the firestorm broke. He will speak at the National Press Club on Monday, seeking to put his remarks in context of African American religious traditions.

Referring to Obama's race speech in Philadelphia last month, delivered after Wright videos became an Internet and cable TV sensation, the former pastor told Moyers, "What happened in Philadelphia where he had to respond to the sound bytes, he responded as a politician."

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