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Huckabee: Rev. Wright needs for Obama to lose

The Associated Press

May 1, 2008

Former Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said yesterday Barack Obama's bid for the White House is being derailed because his former pastor does not want him to prove the country's race relations have progressed.

Obama, a Democrat, has struggled to distance himself from incendiary comments made by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Huckabee told reporters in Billings, Mont., "His campaign is not being derailed by his race, it's being derailed by a person who doesn't want him to prove that we have made great advances in this country ...

"Jeremiah Wright needs for Obama to lose so he can justify his anger, his hostile bitterness against the United States of America," Huckabee said.

On Tuesday, Obama said he was outraged by Wright's comments and denounced the remarks as "giving comfort to those who prey on hate."