I think you're wrong and I'm right." In an interview with The New York Times, Kelly added: "As long as Marty Peretz has the involvement with Al Gore and with the magazine to the degree that he does, I think the job is structurally impossible." Peretz has long supported both Democrats and Republicans. As he aged, his support moved from progressives and liberal candidates to neoliberals and conservatives. He was a major behind-the-scenes benefactor of Eugene McCarthy's primary presidential bid in 1968. He supported Senator Barack Obama in both his Democratic primary race and in the 2008 general election, but in 2012 wrote that he hoped that "maybe Barack Obama will be a one-term president," and that a prominent alternative candidate would run against him in the Democratic primary. Later, Peretz expressed disappointment with Obama, telling The New York Times Magazine: "I'm not sure I feel betrayed, but it's close... our first African-American president has done less to fight AIDS in Africa than George Bush, he's done nothing on human rights." Accusations of bigotry Over the course of his career, Peretz has drawn criticism from several of his fellow commentators, particularly Jack Shafer of Slate, James Fallows of The Atlantic, and Eric Alterman of The Nation for making bigoted comments, often directed towards Arabs and Muslims. He has written (among other things) that "'Arab society' is 'hidebound and backward' [and] [t]hat the Druze are 'congenitally untrustworthy'". On September 4, 2010, Peretz drew media attention and controversy when he posted an editorial which concluded: But, frankly, Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims. And among those Muslims led by the Imam Rauf there is hardly one who has raised a fuss about the routine and random bloodshed that defines their brotherhood. So, yes, I wonder whether I need honor these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof denounced Peretz's comments, asking: "Is it possible to imagine the same kind of casual slur tossed off about blacks or Jews?" Peretz issued an apology on September 13. On his statement about Muslims and the First Amendment, Peretz said: "I wrote that, but I do not believe that. I do not think that any group or class of persons in the United States should be denied the protections