McCain Booed At Martin Luther King Speech: Watch The Video

Senator John McCain, "who says he will court the African-American vote this year and campaign in places Republicans often shun," spoke in Memphis on Friday to mark the 40th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

But his speech was met with boos and interruptions from many in the audience, as he apologized for repeatedly opposing the creation of a holiday to celebrate King's legacy.

(The image of a black man holding an umbrella over McCain's head while he gave the speech didn't exactly complement the moment.)

Take a look:

McCain voted against the creation of a holiday honoring King in 1983, a vote which was supported by a large number of Republicans. McCain claimed this week that he was largely unaware on the importance of King's work at the time, due to his Vietnam-era service overseas. Speaking on Thursday to reporters, he explained that his conversion occurred around 1990:

"I voted in my...first year in Congress against it and then I began to learn and I studied and people talked to me. And I not only supported it but I fought very hard in my home state of Arizona for recognition against a governor who was of my own party."

But McCain's voting record since 1990 doesn't support this explanation. In addition to voting to oppose a state holiday in 1987 (which he later supported) and a federal holiday in 1989, McCain voted in 1994 to cut funding for the commission that promoted King's holiday.

Comments

[FloaterBall]

Is it conceivable that McCain is actually stupider than dubya??!! Good Lord.

[wmbear]

BUT MCCAIN IS ***SINCERELY*** STUPID. -- And he admits his mistakes, something W would never do....

[mounthood]

Republican candidates have to prove themselves stupid. Otherwise their constituencies wouldn't vote for them. McCain is just practicing. So far he is doing a good job.

[lornejl]

I can't stand McBomb, but he showed some nads going to that venue, dumbya never would have.

[Gary47]

Methinks the repub king-makes are trying to get McCain to make all his mistakes early and often - to get them out of the way. The first part's working...

[scarab23]

I am a Canadian, and my son Rufus, 11 years old, has lived here his entire life, and he knows more about MLK that McCain. For this, and many other apparent reasons it makes more sense to vote for my son for president than for that obviously stupid man.

[Redrover666]

I too am from Canada.

Would you by any chance be from Newfoundland?

[TimN]

You should be ashamed of yourself - for naming your kid 'Rufus'.

[sistermoon]

The Republican Party - clueless about race since 1964

[pierce977]

Since 1864 in actuality.

[mjc]

There is very little reason to believe that John McCain will ever be able to attract any black or progressive American, None. And it is not a new point of view. He represents all the racist and irrational attitudes of many Republicans. Sad.

[jeter2]

Oh give it a rest. The Dems are the ones that have been playing the race card during their primary season.

[blueinannarbor]

This was playing the race card? Or was it playing the war hero card?

[usefulidiots]

Early morning,April 4.

A shot rings out in a Memphis sky.

Free at last,they took your life.

They could not take your pride.


U2

[jeter2]

Actually it was 7:01 pm

[greenwitch]

That lyric always bugged me for the same reason.

[usefulidiots]

Take it up w/ Bono.

Just quoting the song,technical dude ;)

[gluvox12]

What time was it in Ireland?

[blueinannarbor]

Is it 'doing to right thing' when your motivation for 'doing the right thing' is pandering for votes and you don't really mean it? Just a question.

[NU81]

It's the "right thing" to do if you want to lose the election.

[johnmorgan]

Blueinannarbor, good question.

I would call it not doing the right thing.

It's dishonest, since he doesn't believe what he says. And we know it.

Will this "apology" change his future behavior? Don't bet on it.

There's no integrity in McCain.

[Bobleblah1]

"McCain claimed this week that he was largely unaware on the importance of King's work at the time, due to his Vietnam-era service overseas. Speaking on Thursday to reporters, he explained that his conversion occurred around 1990:"

"I voted in my...first year in Congress against it and then I began to learn and I studied and people talked to me.

Is he for real?
The republican nominee for President of the Untied States has said on record that he didn't know who
Martin Luther King was until 1990? This is the craziest sh*t I have ever heard an American politician say.

No joke, this statement should disqualify this man right off the bat. If this is true, John McCain is so dangerously unaware about his own country's political history, that allowing him to lead it would be insanity. Keep in mind this stuff happened when John McCain was already an adult.

Can someone confirm that he actually said this? My jaw almost hit the ground when I read this.
I still almost cant believe this. On second thought, this must be a joke or misprint right?

[WLA]

He was, however, very familiar with Abraham Lincoln, as they were classmates.

[mjc]

Wish I could give you the exact facts, but McCain is a real anomaly in politics. Some of the stuff he says just can't even begin to tell the real story.

[blueinannarbor]

Maybe you cannot provide the facts because McCain isn't actually an anomaly in politics and the image that he's a political 'maverick' is only a creation of the liberal (?) media. The comment that he didn't understand the significance of MLK, Jr. because he was in the Hanoi Hilton was merely a typical scumbag politicians way of saying: "remember, I'm a war hero."

[blueinannarbor]

If you find someone who can help you pick your jaw up from the floor, let me know. After I heard this statement that's where mine landed and it fell so hard that I can't pick it up.

[acanthus]

Can you imagine the "liberal" media's reaction if either Clinton or Obama said something as stupidly, jaw-droppingly dishonest? Lucky for McCain that the "liberal" media is his base, hmmm?

[NU81]

My sentiments exactly. I've been in shock all day. The only explanation I can come up with it that he's senile. If he was ONLY a racist, he would have known better than to do this. Boy, and I thought Hillary was desperate. I get the feeling he thinks he can do and say virtually anything simply because he's a tortured war hero. He has my deepest respect for his service to our country, but it's time to "hang it up" and retire.

This speech by John McCain repulses me to the core. The gut. Wherever that place it that almost makes you sick when you're well.

[wmbear]

YEAH. "Repulsive" is the word for it. The man so totally and completely out of it, his public behavior is almost a wonder to behold. How the media could buy into his tough-guy war hero pose is just beyond me. Sure he served his country and survived five years of POW hell with his honor more or less intact but is that sufficient qualification for being President? The man has some kind of major mental malfunction that's difficult to put your finger on but goes WAY beyond one too many "senior moments."

[johnmorgan]

Bobleblah1, the thing is, McCain is lying when he says that.

So I don't know what's worse:

1) He's absolutely ignorant of American history, and he's running for president.

OR

2) He makes up outrageous lies, and he's running for president.

[dax49]

my problem is that is not the story put out by fox or msnbc for that matter, he appeared to be greeted with cheers. now they are all focusing on his not having fbi protection, instead of this

[sansego2000]

To listen to McCain that claims he did not know the significance of Martin until the 90's is either the lie of a person that does not care of the racial troubles of the U.S. or just plain ignorance. Either way he cannot be a leader of a country he knows so little of or just does not care about. Then you have Hillary that made the comment it took a president to realize King's dream. How ignorant is this. Not a black or white thing. For Hillary to think that King's dream has been realized is plain ignorance. King's dream was not just a dream for the U.S. it was a global dream. You realize that both McCain and Hillary do not know what they talk about, it is just political BS.

[couch2000]

Here Obamas camp goes playing the Race card again, dont push it or we will start running those DVDs again, its your call.

[bridgietherease]

Yep, you're totally right, couch2000 - every time anybody talks about black people, it's 100% Obama's fault. Especially on the anniversary of MLK's assassination. You ought to go back to elementary school to learn how to string together a rudimentary sentence - apostrophes & split infinitives are clearly not your strong points..

Besides, black has nothing to do with it - I'm as white as the day is long and I will NEVER EVER vote for a man who voted to repeal the King holiday in 1994 - 1994! The very idea of somebody who could do that with a clear conscience leading this country for the next four years makes my fucking skin crawl.

[acanthus]

Play on, player.

[mjc]

sansegoo200, it isn't that Hillary said that it took a president to realize King's dream and you need to get this right. What she was saying was that the Kennedys, John and Bobby, and then after John's assassination, put the dream into some form of reality when Lyndon Johnson pushed the Civil Rights Voting Act into being. MLK was not a politican and it took one of America's greatest to bring his dream into reality. Why does that bother you? Johnson himself gave MLK all the credit for bringing the problems and the needs of black Americans to the fore. King himself could never have gotten such an act to become law and be enforced. Johnson and other Democrats were able to do that.. Ideas need pragmatic individuals to be realized, more often than not.

[Huckaboo]

Wow, mjc, your Hillaradar really must have startled you this time. What sansego2000 said was "to think that King's dream has been realized is plain ignorance." The rest of your Clinton trolling has been repeated here so often most of us just skim over the same ol' same ol'.

[Mekarri]

I am a black woman, I never thought that it was wrong what she said and she was right. I have nothing but respect for MLK, Malcolm X and all the other brave black people who fought against racism. I often think about how terrifying it was to be black in those days. This is why I ALWAYS vote, how could I not, people gave their lives so that I could have this right. I wish I could have known any of them. The media is keeping this fight going on between the democrats but I refuse to fall for it. I pay attention to the issues not the gossip. McCain is pandering old man. He have is as bad as bush. They get in front of the camera and say such stupid things. And how insulting it is to say you didn't know about MLK work, when you were a grown man at the time. People of that era will always remember MLK ,JFK and Robert Kennedy be it with happiness or sadness.

[vet64]

As a Native myself, who'll I vote for?? I certainly will not vote for a political party that's trying to kill my peoples culture. And the Democrats are just as bad so I'm Independent. I'll vote for one who will get us out of Iraq and back into Afghanistan. I'll vote for one who will start regulating the Neo Con owned Conglomerates. I'll vote for someone who will rid the Executive Branch of every Neo Con Parasite. I'll vote for someone who will start prosecuting the Conflict of Interest and Collusion challenged Republican and Democratic Legislators for selling out their votes to the highest bidder with bribes.
I'll vote for someone with Common Sense!
100 year McCain might've got my vote a few years ago, but when he let King Pinocchio talk about his wife like that and then began sucking up to him, he lost my respect!

[YellowPanties]

If you think the Democrats are "just as bad" as the Republicans, you need to put down the paint you've been huffing, and back away slowly, then enroll yourself in school.

[johnmorgan]

Vet64, you're gonna wait a long time for all your demands to be met. Yes, the Democratic party is very disappointing also. I have my own political wish-list:, but I'll vote strategically. First of all, anything is better than the fascist we have in the White House now and his political party. Second, a Democratic president will at least improve some things. If you don't vote, the corporations will do it for you with their money.

[S. Mitchell]

The context in which the Black man is holding the umbrella is fodder for you simpletons out there who would seize any opportunity to show irony in race relations in America or any attempt at reconciliation, above all. The fact that it's John McCain, a republican and war hero, gives the bitter folk and racist out there even more reason to deny Senator McCain this moment of reconciliation. Moreover, it is unfair to the Senator who's family has served this country honorably throughout several wars whether they were popular or not. George Wallace, himself was forgiven by the Black community for his repentance of his unspeakable behavior during the civil rights era and yet, received blessings from the King family as well, supporters of Mr. King himself. Booing and refusing to accept Senator McCain's own reaching out is not in keeping with Mr. King's own philosophy of forgiveness nor Jesus' himself, the God, he loved. To do otherwise, is nothing short of blasphemous-mud ringing. I would venture to guess Mr. King himself, out of kindness, respect and consideration, would have done so and not politicized a simple kind act of humanity on a rainy day. But, those of you who disagree have every right, after all this is America. I myself, happen to be an American of African, Native American and European descent and I am also an atheist and an independent. Therefore, my position is one of objectivity and fairness in making this point.

[bison1]

I agree the booing and refusing to accept Senator McCain's own reaching out was wrong.

[YellowPanties]

No, it was not McCain trying to "reach out" but McCain trying to "reach around" as he was busy screwing those who believe in civil rights, equality and respect.

[mounthood]

"Reaching out?" He was only pandering for votes.

[TimN]

I distinctly heard several voices of reconciliation in the crowd. People of fine character who may very well disagree politically with Senator McCain, but wouldn't dare give up a rare opportunity to connect with him and their shared humanity.

[brooklyncitizen]

It reflects another act of insensitivity on te part of a white Republican. Preciesly because of the volatility of race relations McCain could have had someone else holding the umbrella....these speeches are planned, the stops are planned most of the campaigning these guys do is orchestrated (like Hillary planting her people in the audience with easy questions) .This merited just as much attention precisely becasue he opposed MLK holiday (on waht grounds? seriously????) and because he wants the African-American vote.

[tiredofhillary]

The fact is, pictures matter. And to see the AA man holding the umbrella for McCain, does, in some peoples view, bring you back to Driving Ms. Daisy.

More to the point, McCain's change of heart would mean more if wasn't doing it because he's running for president. Maybe he's not, but that's what it looks like. I give him props for doing it because he surely knows he's not getting the AA vote anyway.

[jones]

I also felt that the black guy holding the umbrella had some very bad racist iconography that we all deep-within-us understand. Why did he not see that?

[wayoutleft]

your interpretation would fit better if this moment of reconciliation transpired at some time other than when he is running for president. this is a planned and co-ordinated presidential campaign event. even mccain realizes he has to defuse a vote against honoring dr king before the general election. it's not like his conscience had been bothering him so he joined the ceremonies out of remorse. he joined the ceremonies because he wants to be president. but i agree that seizing on who's holding the umbrella is thin. to me, the fact that he's not holding it himself makes a weak impression.

[NoOtherWay]

McCain does Satan's bidding.

[gd7277467]

Johnny !

You are a continuing embassassment !

Go Home !!!

[AlphaDoc]

>"I voted in my...first year in Congress against it and then I began to learn and I studied and people talked to me.<

Or in Republicanese, he was against it before he was for it. I don't know about anyone else, but I am personally sick and tired of elected officials voting on issues when they haven't taken the time to get the facts. And if McCain is lying, and he did have the facts (which is the more likely scenario), I wish he'd be honest enough to tell us all WHY he voted against the holiday.