Obama, Durkin said, waited until the past week to remove Wright from the campaign’s African American Leadership Council even though the campaign admits it knew months ago that Wright’s rhetoric could be a problem.

Further, Durkin said, Obama’s speech did not fully address the nature or scope of Wright’s remarks.

“Some people say these remarks were taken out of context, but I don’t know what other explanation you can offer. How you can say that what he said is not what he meant?” Durkin said. “He talks about the U.S. government injecting the AIDS virus into black Americans as a form of genocide. He’s suggests that somehow 9/11 was something America brought on itself.”

Obama’s long-standing and ongoing association with Wright, Durkin said, speaks to issues of judgment, which, he said, Obama has placed at the heart of his own campaign when applied to such issues as the Iraq war.