President Barack Obama last summer attended the same wedding as Weather Underground activists Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, according to a report in
Gawker.
The president's alleged ties to Ayers triggered a controversy during the 2008 presidential campaign, when GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists who would target their own countries."
Ayers and Dohrn were on the run for almost a decade as fugitives for their involvement in the bombings of federal buildings, including the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, in protest of the Vietnam War. Ultimately, federal authorities dropped the charges against them because of FBI misconduct,
The Hill reported.
Ayers later served alongside Obama on a number of charitable and education boards in his capacity as a professor, and hosted a 1995 campaign event for Obama, who was running for the Illinois state Senate at the time.
But officials for the Obama campaign said in 2008 that the two had not spoken since the president was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2005, The Hill said.
And Obama dismissed efforts to link him to Ayers saying, "This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood … the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago — when I was 8 years old — somehow reflects on me and my values doesn't make much sense," Obama said, according to The Hill.
The wedding the two attended was between longtime White House chef Sam Kass and MSNBC anchor Alex Wagner.
Critics of Obama have continued to insinuate close ties with Ayers. But just two months before the wedding,
Ayers told Real Clear Politics that he "absolutely" believed the president was engaged in terrorism for his use of drones in fighting terrorism.
"Every president in this century should be put on trial, every one of them," Ayers said. "For war crimes. Absolutely.
"Every one of them goes into office, an office dripping with blood, and adds to it. And yes, I think these are war crimes. They are acts of terror," he said.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.