Jackson Goes "Nuts"

July 9, 2008

"See Barack Obama been, um, talking down to black people on his faith based...I want to cut his nuts off."

—Rev. Jesse Jackson, picked up on a hot mic whispering to a colleague before an interview with Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor

The crude remark, made a few weeks after a speech in which Obama suggested African-Americans needed to take more responsibility for raising their children, was clearly an embarrassment for the civil rights leader. Jackson spent much of the following day apologizing, retracting and explaining himself on national television. He insisted he likes Obama "very much," is a "long-standing supporter" of the candidate, and even said he "represents the redemption of our country." But it wasn't the first time Jackson expressed frustration with Obama for not being as ardent an advocate for African American issues as he would like. And as vulgar as it was, the remark did reflect concerns from some on the left that Obama was taking too many moderate positions on such issues as the death penalty, gun control and wiretapping.

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