According to Sen. John McCain's campaign website, McCain is scheduled to visit Xavier University in New Orleans on April 24. On the April 22 edition of Salem Radio Network's The Dennis Prager Show, televangelist John Hagee -- whose endorsement McCain actively solicited and recently said he was "glad" to have -- affirmed his 2006 comment about Hurricane Katrina: "I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they are -- were recipients of the judgment of God for that." As the blog Think Progress noted, on The Dennis Prager Show, host Dennis Prager asked Hagee: "[I]n the case of New Orleans, you do feel that God's hand was in it because of a sinful city?" Hagee responded, "That it was a city that was planning a sinful conduct, yes." As Media Matters for America has noted, in reporting on Hagee's endorsement of McCain and McCain's embrace of that endorsement, the media have largely ignored Hagee's controversial comments, particularly the Katrina comment. But Hagee's affirmation of his earlier comments and McCain's scheduled trip to New Orleans two days later offer the media an opportunity once again to report on those comments -- will they take it?

Media Matters has documented (here, here, here, here, here, and here), the disparity between the media's extensive coverage of controversial comments made by supporters of Sen. Barack Obama and their coverage of controversial comments made by Hagee and other supporters of McCain. While there have been media reports on McCain's repudiation of Hagee's comments related to Catholics, the media have largely ignored remarks Hagee has made about Hurricane Katrina, Islam, women, and homosexuality. On the April 20 edition of ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, McCain stated that it was "probably" a mistake to solicit and accept Hagee's endorsement and stated that "I condemn remarks that are in any way viewed as anti-anything." Nevertheless, McCain said: "I'm glad to have his [Hagee's] endorsement." [MORE]