Hagee is pastor of a 19,000-member evangelical church in San Antonio, Texas, and founder of a global Christian broadcast network.

In a statement released before McCain rejected his endorsement, Hagee said his words had been taken out of context.

"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." He also pointed to millions of dollars worth of donations his ministry had made to humanitarian efforts in Israel.