Obama's ex-pastor confronts media in Washington

By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, blasted news media he said had sensationalized his remarks in an often confrontational appearance at a reporters' club on Monday.

But the Chicago preacher stood by the fiery sermons that have dogged Obama's Democratic presidential campaign since they gained public attention in March.

"You cannot do terrorism on other people and not expect it to come back to you," Wright said at the National Press Club when asked about a speech in which he asserted the Sept. 11 attacks were retaliation for U.S. foreign policy.

Asked about another sermon in which he suggested the U.S. government created the AIDS virus to kill black people, Wright also did not retreat.

"Based on what has happened to Africans in this country, I believe our government is capable of doing anything," he said.

Obama, who is battling fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton for the right to take on Republican John McCain in the November presidential election, joined Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ 20 years ago.

Obama has distanced himself from Wright's remarks and denounced some of his views, which many voters have interpreted as anti-American.

"Those citizens who say that have never heard my sermons," Wright said. "I served six years in the military. Does that make me patriotic? How many years did Cheney serve?"