Sen. Joe Lieberman, a friend and supporter of Sen. John McCain's presidential bid, said Thursday he will address a conference hosted by the Rev. John Hagee, who was spurned by McCain for remarks about God sending Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land.

"I believe that Pastor Hagee has made comments that are deeply unacceptable and hurtful," Lieberman, I-Conn., said Wednesday in a statement. "I also believe that a person should be judged on the entire span of his or her life's works. Pastor Hagee has devoted much of his life to fighting anti-Semitism and building bridges between Christians and Jews."

Lieberman is one of the strongest supporters of likely GOP presidential nominee McCain. He also has been mentioned as a possible running mate.

Lieberman plans to appear at Hagee's "Christians United for Israel" summit in Washington. He called Hagee's group "a vital force in supporting the war against terrorism and defending our ally, Israel."

The liberal advocacy group Democracy for America called on Lieberman to cut his ties to Hagee and his extremist views.

McCain last week rejected Hagee's endorsement, and also repudiated the support of Rod Parsley, an Ohio preacher who has sharply criticized Islam and called the religion inherently violent.

"Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them. I did not know of them before Rev. Hagee's endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well," McCain said in a statement.

Hagee also issued a statement in which he said he was tired of what he called "baseless attacks" and he was removing himself from any active role in the 2008 campaign.

Parsley has described Islam as an "anti-Christ religion" and the Muslim prophet Muhammad as "the mouthpiece of a conspiracy of spiritual evil," according to ABC News, which reviewed DVDs of the pastor's speeches.