On the March 14 edition of Fox News' Special Report, discussing controversial statements by Sen. Barack Obama's pastor Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, who recently retired, guest host and Fox News chief White House correspondent Bret Baier claimed that “it seemed to take Barack Obama a long time to denounce” Wright's statements, while, Baier said, Sen. John McCain denounced controversial statements from his supporters “right away.” However, when San Antonio-based evangelist John Hagee, who among other things has said that “Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans” for planning “a homosexual parade,” endorsed McCain for president on February 27, McCain responded, “All I can tell you is I'm very proud to have pastor Hagee's support.” On February 29, McCain stated that his acceptance of Hagee's endorsement did not signal that he “agree[s] with all of Pastor Hagee's views”; he subsequently asserted on March 7, “I repudiate any comments that are made, including Pastor Hagee's, if they are anti-Catholic or offensive to Catholics,” and added on March 11, “I repudiate any comments that are [anti-Semitic] or anti-Catholic, racist, any other,” including those by Hagee. But McCain has yet to address Hagee's remarks about Hurricane Katrina, or other remarks Hagee has made about Islam, women, and slavery. McCain has also yet to denounce comments by another supporter, Rod Parsley, senior pastor of World Harvest Church in Columbus, Ohio, who reportedly wrote that “America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion [of Islam] destroyed.”

On Special Report, Baier, referring to Wright's statements, also asked Fox News chief political correspondent Carl Cameron: “Senator McCain is obviously not stepping into this fray, right?” Cameron replied, “No, he can't,” and later added that “McCain constantly says I want to run a respectful campaign.” In fact, while McCain chief political adviser Charlie Black said on March 14 that McCain believes “these candidates cannot be held accountable for all the views of people who endorse them or people who befriend them” and instead “should be held accountable for their public policy views,” ABCNews.com's The Note reported on the morning of March 14 that the McCain campaign circulated to reporters a Wall Street Journal op-ed in which Newsmax.com chief Washington correspondent Ronald Kessler wrote that “Obama's close association with Mr. Wright ... raises legitimate questions about Mr. Obama's fundamental beliefs about his country.” Subsequently, McCain's campaign reportedly said it sent the op-ed “in error.” Kessler's op-ed truncated Obama's response to one of Wright's controversial remarks about the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, omitting the portion where Obama indicated that he disagreed with the comment, as Media Matters for America has noted.

The Dallas Morning News reported on February 28 that McCain initially “deflected a question” about previous controversial remarks by Hagee, when Hagee endorsed him:

Mr. McCain deflected a question about whether he agreed with Mr. Hagee's end-times theology in which he connects Iran's nuclear threat with the Apocalypse, the final battle of good and evil on earth.

“All I can tell you is I'm very proud to have pastor Hagee's support,” Mr. McCain said.

As Time's Swampland blog noted on February 29, McCain provided two statements that day indicating that he did not agree with all of Hagee's views and statements:

This morning, McCain was asked about it [the Hagee endorsement] by the traveling press. His response:

And I am very proud of the Pastor John Hagee's spiritual leadership to thousands of people and I am proud of his commitment to the independence and the freedom of the state of Israel. That does not mean that I support or endorse or agree with some of the things that Pastor John Hagee might have said or positions that he may have taken on other issues. I don't have to agree with everyone who endorses my candidacy. They are supporting my candidacy. I am not endorsing some of their positions.

But the wave of criticism kept growing. So several hours later, the McCain campaign released a stronger statement of condemnation.

Yesterday, Pastor John Hagee endorsed my candidacy for president in San Antonio, Texas. However, in no way did I intend for his endorsement to suggest that I in turn agree with all of Pastor Hagee's views, which I obviously do not.

On March 8, the Associated Press reported that McCain's initial “response had been tepid,” but McCain “took a stronger stance on Hagee's views in an interview with The Associated Press” on March 7:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Friday repudiated any views of a prominent televangelist who endorsed him last month “if they are anti-Catholic or offensive to Catholics.”

McCain has come under fire since televangelist John Hagee endorsed him on Feb. 27, but until Friday his response had been tepid. The Arizona senator merely said he doesn't agree with everyone who endorses him. He said Friday he had been hearing from Catholics who find Hagee's comments offensive.

Hagee, leader of a San Antonio megachurch, has referred to the Roman Catholic Church as “the great whore” and called it a “false cult system” and “the apostate church” -- “apostate” means someone who has forsaken his religion.

On Friday, McCain took a stronger stance on Hagee's views in an interview with The Associated Press.

“We've had a dignified campaign, and I repudiate any comments that are made, including Pastor Hagee's, if they are anti-Catholic or offensive to Catholics,” McCain said.

“I sent two of my children to Catholic school. I categorically reject and repudiate any statement that was made that was anti-Catholic, both in intent and nature. I categorically reject it, and I repudiate it,” McCain said.

As Think Progress noted, on the March 11 broadcast of Bill Bennett's Morning in America, McCain said that he “repudiate[s] any comments” that are “anti-Semitic or anti-Catholic, racist, any other,” including any by Hagee, but added, “I will say that he [Hagee] said that his words were taken out of context, he defends his position.” The Los Angeles Times summarized McCain's response to Hagee's comments about Catholicism in a March 15 article:

McCain initially avoided specifically commenting on Hagee's statements. Two days after the Feb. 27 endorsement, McCain said Hagee's support “does not mean that I embrace everything that he stands for and believes.”

He stressed he was proud of Hagee's “spiritual leadership to thousands of people” and praised his commitment “to the independence and the freedom of the state of Israel.”

It was not until a week later -- after Catholic groups, the Democratic National Committee and its chairman, Howard Dean, kept the drumbeat of criticism going -- that McCain explicitly told the Associated Press he rejected and repudiated any anti-Catholic statements, including Hagee's.

Moreover, McCain has yet to address any of Hagee's specific remarks other than those concerning Catholicism, which were criticized by Catholic League President William Donohue. Donohue responded to McCain's March 7 remarks by stating: “Sen. McCain has done the right thing and we salute him for doing so. As far as the Catholic League is concerned, this case is closed.”

McCain has yet to address any controversial remarks by Parsley, although Fox News reported on March 15 that, "[r]egarding Parsley's comments on Islam, campaign officials point to McCain's denunciation of similar comments made by Rev. John Hagee -- noting that the presumptive GOP nominee was not endorsing Parsley by accepting the pastor's endorsement and does not agree with all of his views."

Additionally, McCain touted the endorsement of Tennessee Republican Party chairwoman Robin Smith even after the state party issued a February 25 press release titled “Anti-Semites for Obama” that stated in its original form: “The Tennessee Republican Party today joins a growing chorus of Americans concerned about the future of the nation of Israel, the only stable democracy in the Middle East, if Sen. Barack Hussein Obama is elected president of the United States.” The press release added that “Robin Smith, chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party” said, “Voters need to know about two items that surfaced today which strongly suggest that an Obama presidency will view Israel as a problem rather than a partner for peace in the Middle East.”

On the March 5 edition of Special Report, Cameron stated that “McCain several times today reiterated his commitment to run what he calls a respectful campaign against Democrats. It seemed a pretty clear signal to his party not to be throwing any low blows on his behalf,” thereby joining numerous other media figures who have characterized McCain as a candidate who avoids negative campaigning or uncritically reported McCain's assertion that he is one, despite extensive evidence to the contrary.

From the March 14 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:

BAIER: Carl, Senator McCain is obviously not stepping into this fray, right?

CAMERON: No, he can't. And it's a little bit of “people in glass houses can't throw stones,” or shouldn't. And it's remarkable the number of supporters and surrogates who have had to be denounced by both sides. And it might say something about the absence of a great deal of direct head-on criticism between the candidates themselves.

McCain's faced so much of it where his supporters and surrogates have said things that are considered inappropriate that his campaign manager, Rick Davis, this week put out a big memo basically scolding everybody, saying, hey, it's not helping. Senator McCain constantly says I want to run a respectful campaign because, frankly, he recognizes that whether he's running against a woman or a black man, the likelihood of the rhetoric going over the top often is a reality they need to get ready -- they need to prepare for.

BAIER: But Senator McCain says it right away. Major, it seemed to take Barack Obama a long time to denounce these statements, as they were gaining steam among every network going around, starting here.

GARRETT: To say the Obama response has been evolving is to be charitable. I sent an email to the chief spokesman, Bill Burton, this morning saying, is there any need that the campaign feels to either distance itself, place for their contacts or in any way shape or form, add more of Barack Obama's own voice to what the Reverend Wright has said? The one-word answer I received was no. That was this morning. Quite clearly, that strategy shifted as the hours and the extensive coverage of this continues.