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Jesse Jackson & Barack Obama Make Amends

The Rev. Jesse Jackson apologized Wednesday for “crude and hurtful” remarks he made about Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama after an interview with a Fox News correspondent.

The remarks came Sunday as Jackson was talking to a fellow interviewee, UnitedHealth Group executive Dr. Reed V. Tuckson. An open microphone picked up Jackson whispering, “See, Barack’s been talking down to black people … I want to cut his nuts off.”

Jackson told CNN’s “Situation Room” that he didn’t realize the microphone was on.

“It was very private,” Jackson said, adding that if “any hurt or harm has been caused to his campaign, I apologize.”

An Obama campaign spokesman, Bill Burton, said that the senator from Illinois “of course accepts Rev. Jackson’s apology.” Watch Jackson whisper comments about Obama »

Jackson’s son, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois — co-chair of Obama’s presidential campaign — publicly blasted his father’s comments Wednesday.

“I’m deeply outraged and disappointed in Rev. Jackson’s reckless statements about Sen. Barack Obama,” the younger Jackson said. “His divisive and demeaning comments about the presumptive Democratic nominee — and I believe the next president of the United States — contradict his inspiring and courageous career.”

Jackson Jr. added that he’ll “always love” his father. But, he said, “I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric.”

The elder Jackson repeated his apology in a news conference in Chicago a couple of hours before Fox News aired Sunday’s remarks. He said he wanted to address the issue publicly before the cable network aired the comment, because “I know that they will further violate the context of it.”

Earlier, Jackson told CNN he felt “very distressed because I’m supportive of this campaign and with the senator.” Watch more of Jackson’s apology on CNN »

“I was in a conversation with a fellow guest on Sunday. He asked about Barack’s speeches lately at the black churches. I said he comes down as speaking down to black people,” Jackson said.

In a recent Father’s Day speech at a black church, Obama took absent black fathers to task, saying, “We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child — it’s the courage to raise one.”

While Jackson didn’t cite any particular comment, he told CNN that Obama’s message to black voters must be broader and serve as more than a “moral challenge.”

The black community is faced with high levels of unemployment, home foreclosures and violence, “so we have some real serious issues — not just moral issues,” he said.

However, Jackson said after finding out about the open microphone, he immediately contacted the Obama campaign to apologize.

Burton, Obama’s spokesman, said the senator is quite familiar with the issues facing African-Americans and that “he will continue to speak out about our responsibilities to ourselves.”

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