Fact Check: Obama’s Relationship with William Ayers

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Democratic Sen. Barack Obama is defending his relationship with William Ayers, a college professor who was once part of the radical Weather Underground and spent years as a fugitive after a 1970 explosion that killed three members.

Obama suggests he barely knows Ayers and shouldn’t be held accountable for anything Ayers said or did. But others, including Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, say the relationship gives Republicans an issue to exploit against Obama.