Obama's pastor puts him in a soup with Clinton remark

New York, May 30 : A Chicago pastor and spiritual adviser of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has mocked his rival Hillary Rodham Clinton by saying that her famous tearing-up moment was fuelled by self-pitying feelings of "I'm white! I'm entitled! There's a black man stealing my show."

Reverend Michael Pfleger, an Obama ally and political supporter, made the shocking remarks from the pulpit of Trinity United Church of Christ in Illinois on Sunday.

Pfleger, who is white and usually preaches at the mostly-black St. Sabina's Catholic Church, said people need to end "white entitlement and supremacy wherever it raises its head."

The New York Post quoted Pfleger as saying that he believed Clinton's tearing-up in New Hampshire - a moment widely credited with helping her win the primary there - wasn't a "put-on."

"I really believe that she just always thought, 'This is mine! I'm Bill's wife, I'm white, and this is mine! I just gotta get up and step into the plate,' " he said.

"And then out of nowhere came, 'Hey, I'm Barack Obama,' and she said, 'Oh, damn! Where did you come from? I'm white! I'm entitled! There's a black man stealing my show!'

"She wasn't the only one crying," he added, and feigned weeping. "There was a whole lot of white people crying."

Obama said that he was deeply disappointed in Father Pfleger's divisive, backward-looking rhetoric, which doesn't reflect the country I see or the desire of people across America to come together."

Clinton strategist Howard Wolfson suggested Obama should "specifically reject" the mocking, adding, "Divisive and hateful language like that is totally counterproductive in our efforts to bring our party together."

Obama has been friends with Pfleger since his days as a community organizer. He took part in an Iowa event for Obama last fall, and a 2004 Chicago Sun-Times piece said he gives Obama "spiritual counsel."

ANI