A pre-recorded broadcast of the event on Sunday night shows Foxx saying to the audience, "It’s like church over here! First of all, give an honor to God... and our lord and savior, Barack Obama... Y'all stand up right now."
The audience appears pleased with the notion of Obama as "Lord and savior," as they cheer aloud and chant president's name.
As
MSN Now points out, Foxx, it appears, was only jesting. But as one would expect, Christians did not appreciate the humor.
AP reports that John Hayward, writing on the
Human Events blog, criticized Foxx, saying: "Practicing Christians are not amused by the portrayal of modern secular politicians as replacements for Jesus. But presumably their feelings don't count, because they won't burn anything down in outrage."
He continues angrily: "This isn't the first time Obama supporters have gone overboard with their slobbering praise... Besides the disturbing North Korean flavor of this personality cult, it’s an expression of the Obama voter’s childlike dependence on government for both intellectual and spiritual direction, and a testimony to the linguistic poverty of this lowbrow era."
According to
AP, Catholic League President Bill Donohue, noted that Foxx once said he didn't know what God meant to him. Donohue comments sarcastically that Obama has apparently convinced "Jamie Foxx, and no doubt legions of others, that God exists."
Hayward and Donohue may not have paused to wonder whether they aren't taking Foxx more seriously than he intended. After all, he is just an entertainer doing what he knows best...
However, Foxx is well known as an ardent supporter of Obama. The second video above shows him doing an impersonation of Obama at his 2009 inaugural celebration, according to
Zap2it.com. Foxx describes Obama's 2008 acceptance speech as the "the most incredible moment of my life and all of your lives."