In my one on one interview with Joe Lieberman, the Senator and big time McCain backer defends Pastor John Hagee’s controversial comments from a few months ago, saying they were taken out of context and reflects back on lessons learned about the whole endorsement fiasco. The transcription is below. The video clip is above.
"I've talked to Pastor Hagee about it. He's a dear friend. I have the greatest admiration for him and I think that he feels the lesson he learned was that he shouldn't have gotten involved in politics. I think Senator McCain has respect for Pastor Hagee and kind of regrets the way it all developed."
“I don't agree with everything that John Hagee has ever said or done. I can safely say that Pastor Hagee doesn't agree with everything I've said or done. But we agree on some big things. We agree on our basic religious beliefs. We believe in the God of the Bible. We believe the Bible is the inspired truth from God and all that comes with it, the God of creation, the God of revelation, the god of redemption and salvation."
"A comment Pastor Hagee made about the Holocaust was taken way out of context and I think it was his struggling to as a person who believes in God and the God of the Bible to explain to himself how could the Holocaust have occurred. But if you read Pastor Hagee's writings, if you listen to his remarks I don't know of anybody who has been more committed to Israel, more against anti-Semitism and worked harder to build bridges between Christians and Jews than Pastor John Hagee."
Talk about loyal friends? Lieberman has sure been one to Hagee through all of this. McCain gave Hagee the boot and it didn’t go down well but Lieberman going to the wall for Hagee makes sense because of their close friendship. McCain didn’t do the same but the relationship is different.