The John McCain campaign has suspended an
aide for circulating a political attack video that splices together footage of Barack Obama, his long-time pastor Rev. Jeremiah
Wright Jr. and historical imagery of “black power” proponents.
The YouTube video, called “Is Obama
Wright?,” was making the rounds on conservative blogs, before the McCain aide, identified as Soren Dayton, was punished
for posting it on a personal Twitter page.
“We have been very clear on the type
of campaign we intend to run and this staffer acted in violation of our policy,” McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker
told FOX News.
McCain has said repeatedly that he intends
to run a respectful general election campaign. As the Wright controversy mounted over the course of the last week, both McCain
and Hillary Clinton stayed silent on the issue.
The YouTube video in question showed snippets
of incendiary Wright sermons, including one where he refers to the United States as the “U.S. of KKK-A,” interspersed
with clips of Obama denying being present during the controversial sermons. The video also includes a clip of Malcolm X, the
rap song “Fight the Power” and segments questioning Obama’s patriotism.
The Politico reported that the video was
made in part by Lee Habeeb, former producer for “The Laura Ingraham Show.”
Dayton posted the link at 12:31 p.m. ET
Thursday with the heading “Good video on Obama and Wright” the Politico was first to report. It was later taken
down.
Dayton was described to FOX News by one
campaign source as a low-level political staffer. It is not clear how long the suspension will last.
Click here to see the video
that led to the McCain aide’s suspension. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72B3tUAqpo4
FOX News’ Mosheh Oinounou contributed
to this report.
