Obama accepts Jesse Jackson’s apology for crude comments

CHICAGO (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama shrugged off a crude comment aimed at him by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, accepting an apology for a remark Jackson made as he contended that Obama wasn’t speaking to issues important to the black community.

Unaware that his microphone was on during a break for a Fox News program last Sunday, Jackson used a slang reference to wanting to cut off Obama’s testicles. When he learned Wednesday that the Fox News program “The O’Reilly Factor” would air his comments that night, Jackson apologized for “hurtful and wrong” remarks.

The Obama campaign took a measured response to the incident, contending in a statement that Obama has spoken for many years about parental responsibility as well as “jobs, justice and opportunity for all.”

“He will continue to speak out about our responsibilities to ourselves and each other, and he of course accepts Rev. Jackson’s apology,” Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said.

During a break from taping “Fox & Friends” on Sunday, a fellow guest asked Jackson about speeches on morality Obama has given at black churches. Jackson said at a news conference Wednesday that he responded that Obama’s speeches can come off as speaking down to black people and that there were other important issues to be addressed, such as unemployment, the mortgage crisis and the number of blacks in prison.

“It was not a public speech or a declaration,” Jackson said, adding that the comments “will not be helpful.”