* Lots of people covered Gov. Quinn’s campaign press conference with some ministers, but WBEZ was one of the only outlets to report this angle…

An outspoken Chicago pastor connected Republicans to the Ku Klux Klan and suggested that GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner stands for “evil,” as he appeared next to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday to give the Democrat his endorsement.

Um, what?

* Listen to the raw audio…

* Back to the WBEZ story. The minister in question was speaking of registering voters, including “unlikely voters”…

The governor remained silent as the Rev. Walter “Slim” Coleman, a long-time left-wing activist, spoke at his side during a press event where Quinn accepted the endorsement of several mostly African-American clergy members. […]

“That’s an unlikely voter that began way back in 1961 and ’62 with the Ku Klux Klan, that grew up through the militias, that came outta the militias and, and, and – came in to call themselves conservatives, and then came in to call themselves Republican,” Coleman said.

“That’s a movement that brings an evil that we have got to stop,” Coleman said, as the crowd began to clap. “Our fight – our fight is not – our fight is not with flesh and blood. Our fight is with powers and principalities. And there’s an evil – there’s an evil that a candidate may seem that he’s harmless is gonna raise up in this state and we’re not gonna let it happen!”

* The minister later backed away…

Reached by phone after Thursday’s event, Coleman told WBEZ he does not believe Rauner is evil. He said he was referring instead to the “hatred and prejudice and white supremacy” he believes are represented by the conservative Tea Party movement, which he said gets political cover from the GOP.

“We’re not suggesting that Rauner is a member of the Klan or that there were any Klansmen involved in his campaign or anything like that,” Coleman said in a phone interview Thursday afternoon. “We were just saying that the forces that are unleashed by the - the current day Republican Party are very dangerous forces and very racist forces, and that we don’t want them to take over in Illinois.”

* But the state GOP chairman was justifiably outraged at the governor’s silence…

“It is unacceptable and outrageous for a sitting governor to stand by silently and condone comparisons to the Ku Klux Klan,” [ Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider] said. “Governor Quinn owes the people of Illinois an explanation for why he stood by and said nothing.”

* The Quinn campaign’s reaction…

“We couldn’t disagree more strongly, and the Governor believes this rhetoric has no place in politics,” Anderson wrote in an email.

* The minister apologized, so I’ll leave it at that. What bugs me about this incident is that it isn’t the first time Quinn has remained silent while one of his supporters went off on one of his Republican opponents. Remember this from 2010?…

A West Side get-out-the-vote rally Saturday backfired for Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn when the governor was forced to quickly distance himself from racially charged criticism about his Republican foe made by the man who introduced him, Chicago mayoral candidate state Sen. Rickey Hendon. […]

“Let me tell you a couple things. I’ve served with Bill Brady. I’ve never served with such an idiotic, racist, sexist, homophobic person in my life,” Hendon told the crowd. “If you think that the minimum wage needs to be $3 an hour, vote for Bill Brady. If you think that women have no rights whatsoever except to have his children, vote for Bill Brady. If you think gay and lesbian people need to be locked up and shot in the head, vote for Bill Brady.”

Quinn stood silent and didn’t speak until after a reporter asked him about Hendon’s remarks.

Governor, that’s just not acceptable.

* Related…

* ADDED: Two ministers backing Quinn got money from troubled state program: Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn received a robust re-election endorsement this week from dozens of Chicago area ministers, including at least two whose religious organizations got money from a much-criticized state anti-violence grant program.

* Our Cold Civil War Intensifies