MCCAIN AND HAGEE BREAK UP.

John McCain just renounced John Hagee's endorsement, and moments later Hagee announced that he is withdrawing his endorsement of McCain.

Early in the day, in light of newly discovered audiotape of John Hagee preaching that God unleashed Hitler so that the Jews would establish the state of Israel in fulfillment of biblical prophecy, J Street had called on John McCain to completely disassociate himself from Hagee.

In the sermon, Hagee said, quoting from the Book of Jeremiah:

"And they the hunters should hunt them," that will be the Jews. "From every mountain and from every hill and from out of the holes of the rocks." If that doesn't describe what Hitler did in the holocaust you can't see that. . . . Then god sent a hunter. A hunter is someone with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter. And the Bible says -- Jeremiah writing -- "They shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and from the holes of the rocks," meaning there's no place to hide. And that might be offensive to some people but don't let your heart be offended. I didn't write it, Jeremiah wrote it. It was the truth and it is the truth. How did it happen? Because God allowed it to happen. Why did it happen? Because God said my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel.

J Street responded today:

These latest remarks to come under scrutiny are offensive not just to Jewish people who suffered at the hands of Adolf Hitler but to all Americans, their parents and grandparents who fought and sacrificed to defeat Nazi Germany. We hope Senator McCain will use the occasion of Memorial Day to honor the memory of those who defeated Hitler by clearly separating himself from Hagee's outlandish views.

This morning, Hagee had issued a statement that read, in part:

The intentional mischaracterization of my statements by an Internet journalist seeking to use me as a political football in the upcoming presidential race is a gross example of bias at its worst. I will not stand idly by while my character is assassinated and my views on the Holocaust are grossly distorted.

To assert that I in any way condone the Holocaust or that monster Adolf Hitler is the biggest and ugliest of lies. I have always condemned the horrors of the Holocaust in the strongest of terms. But even more importantly, my abhorrence of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism has never stopped with mere words.

By this afternoon, though, Hagee had issued a statement withdrawing his endorsement:

Ever since I endorsed John McCain for president, people seeking to attack Senator McCain have combed my records for statements they can use for political gain. They have had no qualms about grossly misrepresenting my position on issues most near and dear to my heart if it serves their political ambitions. I am tired of these baseless attacks and fear that they have become a distraction in what should be a national debate about important issues. I have therefore decided to withdraw my endorsement of Senator McCain for President effective today, and to remove myself from any active role in the 2008 campaign. I hope that the Senator McCain will accept this withdrawal so that he may focus on the issues that are most important to America and the world.

Although this may relieve McCain of having to answer for Hagee's extremist views, the fact remains that McCain sought his endorsement and needs to explain why he did that. (He claimed not to know what Hagee really thought.) What's more, Hagee, as well as non-renounced Hagee endorser Rod Parsley, play an extremely influential role as the most visible leader of the American Christian Zionist movement, welcomed in the halls of Congress, the White House, and in foreign policy circles. The Republican Party -- and even some Democrats -- as well as many leading Jewish organizations, have embraced Hagee as a great friend of Israel and the Jews. Is this the start of a bigger break-up?

--Sarah Posner