Bob Jones University

====2000 election====
On February 2, 2000, then Texas Governor George W. Bush, as a candidate for president, spoke during school's chapel hour.<ref name="nohtva">[https://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/pop/articles/022800wh-gop-bush.html ''New York Times'' website] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517184003/http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/pop/articles/022800wh-gop-bush.html |date=May 17, 2013 }}</ref> Bush gave a standard stump speech, making no specific reference to the university. His political opponents quickly noted his non-mention of the university's ban on interracial dating. During the Michigan primary, Bush was also criticized for not stating his opposition to the university's anti-Catholicism. The [[John McCain|McCain]] campaign targeted Catholics with "Catholic Voter Alert" phone calls, reminding voters of Bush's visit to BJU.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/conventions/republican/features/turning.points/ CNN website] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041213143936/http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/conventions/republican/features/turning.points/ |date=December 13, 2004 }}</ref> New York Republican Representative [[Peter T. King|Peter King]], who was supporting John McCain in the presidential primary, called Bush a tool of "[[anti-Catholic]] bigoted forces", after the visit. King described BJU as "an institution that is notorious in Ireland for awarding an honorary doctorate to Northern Ireland's tempestuous [[Protestant]] leader, [[Ian Paisley]]."<ref name="2005-nysun.com">{{cite news|newspaper=New York Sun|url=http://www.nysun.com/national/rep-king-and-the-ira-the-end-of-an-extraordinary/15853|title=Rep. King and the IRA: The End of an Extraordinary Affair?|date=June 25, 2005|first=Ed|last=Moloney|access-date=January 2, 2021|archive-date=November 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104055320/http://www.nysun.com/national/rep-king-and-the-ira-the-end-of-an-extraordinary/15853|url-status=dead}}</ref> Bush denied that he either knew of or approved what he regarded as BJU's intolerant policies. On February 26, Bush issued a formal letter of apology to Cardinal [[John O'Connor (cardinal)|John Joseph O'Connor]] of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York|New York]] for failing to denounce Bob Jones University's history of anti-Catholic statements. Bush said at a news conference following the letter's release, "I make no excuses. I had an opportunity and I missed it. I regret that....I wish I had gotten up then and seized the moment to set a tone, a tone that I had set in Texas, a positive and inclusive tone."<ref name="nohtva"/> Also during the 2000 Republican primary campaign in South Carolina, Richard Hand, a BJU professor, spread a false e-mail rumor that [[John McCain]] had fathered an [[illegitimate]] child. The McCains have an adopted daughter from [[Bangladesh]], and later [[push poll]]ing also implied that the child was biracial.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0002/14/ip.00.html|title=CNN Transcript – Inside Politics: GOP Candidates Trade Vitriol Instead of Valentines; Bush Firewall in Danger in Michigan; Bradley Lashes Out at Gore Over Policy Distortions – February 14, 2000|website=transcripts.cnn.com|access-date=February 4, 2006|archive-date=April 22, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060422164754/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0002/14/ip.00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>