Washington – Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar said Wednesday that he regretted calling Focus on the Family “the anti-Christ,” saying he had misspoken.
Salazar uttered the theological term, popularized in the 1970s movie “The Omen,” in an interview with a Colorado Springs television station about his war of words with the conservative Christian group.
“From my point of view, they are the anti-Christ of the world,” Salazar told the station.
Salazar, a first-term Democrat, said he was intending to call the Colorado Springs group “un-Christian,” a term he began applying last week after Focus attacked his stance on judicial nominations in the Senate.
“I spoke about Jim Dobson and his efforts and used the term ‘the anti-Christ,”‘ Salazar said in a written statement from his office. “I regret having used that term. I meant to say this approach was un-Christian, meaning self-serving and selfish.”
Salazar added that his statement came after “being relentlessly attacked” in telephone calls, e-mails, newspapers and radio stations across Colorado.
Focus on the Family criticized Salazar’s “anti-Christ” statement as “overheated rhetoric,” “suspect theology” and a smokescreen to cover up what the organization describes as his change of position on the issue of judicial nominations.
Focus on the Family chairman James Dobson said Salazar’s criticism of the group was intended to divert attention from allegations that he reneged on a campaign promise to support up-or-down votes on the nominations.
“His response in an effort to change the subject is to attack us personally,” Dobson said. “There’s been no such rhetoric from here.”
Since Bush took office, Democrats have allowed the confirmation of dozens of his judicial nominees but blocked 10 appeals- court appointments in Bush’s first term. The president has renominated seven of the 10 since he won re-election, and Democrats have threatened to filibuster again.
In response, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has proposed making it easier to stop filibusters. Frist has rejected a compromise offered by Democratic leaders, who said they would allow confirmation of some of Bush’s nominees in exchange for leaving filibuster rules alone.
Salazar has endorsed the compromise offer.
Dozens rallied at the Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse in Denver to protest the conservative movement to end filibusters. The protest was sponsored by MoveOn.
A group of evangelical religious leaders, including Dobson, on Sunday called on churchgoers to help bring an end to filibusters of judicial nominees.
The event at a Louisville, Ky., church was linked by video to 425 churches nationwide.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
