Krauthammer Hits Scalise ‘Double Standard’: Obama ‘Didn’t Just Wander Into’ Rev. Wright’s Church Once [VIDEO]

Chiming in on the recent issues ailing Rep. Steve Scalise Tuesday night, columnist Charles Krauthammer lashed out at the media’s “double standard,” saying Scalise’s association to David Duke and President Obama’s history with Rev. Jeremiah Wright “aren’t even comparable.” (RELATED: Steve Scalise Regrets Speech To David Duke Group: ‘It Was A Mistake I Regret’)

Krauthammer told “Special Report” guest host Ed Henry that “Obama became didn’t just wander into Jeremiah Wright’s church one time,” but rather that “he sat in it for 22 years as the man, who is a racist, raved about America and about 9/11 being chickens coming home.”

The conservative commentator added that while it’s “implausible” that Scalise didn’t know who Duke or his group were, there is no “shred of evidence” that anything resembling “racism, hostility, or “ill will” has happened in the 12 intervening years.

KRAUTHAMMER: “It’s the worst timing, and if Scalise wanted to make it easy for the party, he would step down in leadership. Nobody is demanding that he leave Congress or that his career is over. It would probably be seen as a temporary step. It wouldn’t be a life sentence. I think he would be eligible to return to leadership, but he didn’t and the House Speaker now is behind him and he’s stuck with him. Look, this happened 12 years ago. It is possible, but implausible that he really didn’t know who these guys were. After all, the name of the organization is the Euro-American Unity and Rights Organization. Pretty clear.”

“The reason is that the time in between, Robert Byrd has acted indecently, he reached out, he obviously has changed his views. The key question here is not just that this happened 12 years ago, but as far as I can tell, there is not a shred of evidence that there is anything in the intervening 12 years which would indicate any evidence of racism, hostility or ill will or anything of this nature. Which means it is just a single event 12 years aho. Given the absence of anything else in the 12 years, I think it’s a pretty drastic thing to demand that he step down.”

“I think that Steve [Hayes] is right, that there is a double standard. Obama became didn’t just wander into Jeremiah Wright’s church one time 12 years ago. He sat in it for 22 years as the man who is a racist raved about America and about 9/11 being chickens coming home … These aren’t even comparable.”

“I do think as a political issue, Scalise might have just stepped aside. But given that he hasn’t, the Republicans are stuck with this, which is unfortunate. They’re going to get hit over this a few times, but I can’t see how they change their minds now.”