This was the same historic church Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett used on Sunday to rip Republicans. So much for that separation of church and state the left loves to whine about.
ATLANTA (AP) — Politics loomed large over the ceremonies held Monday, the federal holiday marking what would’ve been the 83rd birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., as black clergy, elected officials and others tied King’s legacy to the 2012 presidential election.
They urged African-Americans to re-elect President Barack Obama, and condemned voter identification laws they warned are meant to suppress black voter turnout in November.
At Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where King preached from 1960 until his death in 1968, the Rev. Raphael G. Warnock accused GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich of using racial stereotypes to fire up Republican voters. On the campaign trail, Gingrich has referred to President Barack Obama as “the food stamp president” and earlier this month suggested that African-Americans seek paychecks instead of public assistance.
Warnock called Gingrich’s comments “sickening and insulting.”
Warnock said some in the U.S. disrespect King’s legacy by “cutting off those for whom he died and the principles for which he fought,” pointing to voter ID laws that he called “unnecessary and unjustifiable.” He said such laws are an affront to the memory of the civil rights leader, who fought for equal access to the voting booth.”