Barack Obama's black pastor plunged back into the foaming currents of the Democratic presidential race today with a defiant and aggressive performance in front of the media in which he refused to recant any of his most bitterly contested views.

Instead, the Rev Jeremiah Wright declared that the wave of hostility towards his sermons in the past weeks represented “an attack on the black church”, whose traditions are still “invisible” to most Americans.

Mr Obama has condemned Mr Wright's most incendiary remarks, but declines to disavow the Chicago preacher who for the past 20 years has been responsible for kindling his Christian faith, as well as marrying him and baptising his children.

David Axelrod, Mr Obama's chief strategist, did little to conceal his dismay at the re-emergence of Mr Wright into the spotlight with three high-profile appearances in as many days. “We don't have any control over Reverend Wright,” he said. “There's not a thing we can do about it. Obviously, I don't think we would have encouraged him to go on a media tour.”

Selectively edited video clips of Mr Wright's sermons circulating widely on television and the internet show him screaming into the microphone “God damn America!” or suggesting that the 9/11 attacks were an instance of “chickens coming home to roost”.

These have already surfaced in a Republican attack advertisements labelling Mr Obama as an extremist and are certain to feature in a general election campaign if he succeeds in becoming the Democratic nominee.

Republican nominee-elect John McCain said yesterday that he accepted Mr Obama's assurances that he did not share the pastor's opinions, but added: “I also understand why millions of Americans may...view this as a political issue.”

Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington this morning, Mr Wright said that the firestorm he had ignited was because white people did not understand the tradition of black preaching, which was neither “bombastic” nor “controversial” — just “different”. If God intended Mr Obama to be president then “no white racist and no political pundit will get in the way”, he added.

Asked to explain his 9/11 comments, he bristled and suggested that people focusing on his remarks had never listened to the entire sermon. “You cannot do terrorism on other people and expect it never to come back to you,” he said. “Those are Biblical principles.” He similarly rejected accusations that he was unpatriotic. “I served six years in the military,” he said. “How many years did [Vice-President] Cheney serve?” At several points, he was greeted with whoops and standing ovations from supporters in the audience, which added to the discomfort of the overwhelmingly white journalists present for the breakfast event.

On Sunday Mr Wright had spoken in front of a 10,000-strong NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ) audience in Detroit where he also proclaimed a message that there were only “differences”, not “deficiencies” between ethnic groups. But he then went on to mimic the Boston accent of President Kennedy, who he said had pronounced “ask” as “ear-sk”, and the Texas drawl of President Johnson — “ma follo Om-oricans” — adding: “It was only African-American children who were told they could not speak English properly.”

Today he declared: “The Christianity of the slaveholder is not the same as the Christianity of the slave,” before pointing out “this country has never apologised” to America's blacks. “I'm not going to forgive you for stepping on my foot if you're still stepping on my foot.” He ended this remark by turning to his questioner, saying: “Understand? Capiche?”

Asked about his claim that the US Government invented the HIV/Aids virus “as a means of genocide against people of colour”, he replied: “I believe our Government is capable of anything.” A new Associated Press poll suggested for the first time in weeks that Democratic voters now believe that Hillary Clinton is more electable than Mr Obama, leading Mr McCain by 50 to 41 per cent.

Mr Obama, who chose to appear at a largely white Indianapolis church yesterday, is facing criticism from Democratic strategists for failing to anticipate the row over his pastor. One said: “I don't think any senior member of his staff had ever set foot in a black church.” Oprah Winfrey, the TV talk show host who is also based in Chicago and has backed Mr Obama strongly, abruptly stopped attending Mr Wright's church a few years ago.

Mr Wright suggested today that he did not take Mr Obama's criticism of him very seriously, saying: “Politicians say what they say and do what they do based on electability, based on soundbites, based on polls - preachers have a different person to whom they are accountable.”

He then added, to laughter: “I am not running for office; although I'm open to being vice-president.”

Wright's words

“Hillary is married to Bill, and Bill has been good to us. No he ain’t! Bill did us, just like he did Monica Lewinsky. He was riding dirty'”

“We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought back to our own front yards”

“The Government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing God Bless America. No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme”

“Barack knows what it means to be a black man living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people. Hillary can never know that. Hillary ain’t never been called a nigger”

Sources: Times archive, agencies

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