Gingrich Cozies Up to Anti-Gay Pastor

Newt Gingrich has agreed to appear at a summit held by Texas megachurch pastor John Hagee. That name ring a bell? Here, let’s refresh your memory. Hagee’s last foray into presidential politics ended with then-candidate John McCain calling his views “crazy and unacceptable,” after some of his anti-gay and anti-Catholic statements surfaced. “Every so often [Hagee] pops up like Whac-A-Mole,” the executive director of Catholics United tells Mother Jones. “Why does someone like Newt Gingrich feel like he has to have a public association with this person?”

Hagee says his remarks were taken out of context, and has since made nice with his top conservative critic, Catholic League President Bill Donohue, who once called him an “inveterate bigot.” But associating with the guy who has said the anti-Christ will be a gay, half-Jewish president of the European Union still carries risks. “He’s controversial as an evangelical,” says one Trinity College professor. “Theologically [Hagee is] a dubious character; he’s not regarded as one of the gang. It’s hard for me to see that it gets [Gingrich] any street cred from anybody.” (More John Hagee stories.)