Blagojevich apologizes for saying he’s ‘blacker’ than Obama, calls interview comments ’stupid’
By APMonday, January 11, 2010
Blagojevich: Esquire interview comments ’stupid’
CHICAGO — Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (blah-GOY’-uh-vich) is apologizing for what he calls a poor choice of words during a magazine interview in which he claims he’s “blacker than Barack Obama.”
Blagojevich says he’s sorry if he offended anyone. He told WLS Radio in Chicago on Monday that it was a “stupid thing to say.”
In the interview with Esquire, Blagojevich said he grew up in a small apartment, shined shoes as a boy and that his father ran a laundry in a black neighborhood.
The interview is in the February issue of Esquire, which hits newsstands Jan. 19.
The White House refused to comment on Blagojevich’s statements in the interview.
On the Net:
www.esquire.com
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
CHICAGO (AP) — Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he’s “blacker than Barack Obama” and tells Esquire magazine that he was a real person in a political arena dominated by phonies.
Blagojevich, referring to the president as “this guy,” says Obama was elected based simply on hope.
“What the (expletive)? Everything he’s saying’s on the teleprompter,” Blagojevich told the magazine for a story in its February issue, which hits newsstands Jan. 19.
“I’m blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little laundromat in a black community not far from where we lived,” Blagojevich said. “I saw it all growing up.”
The White House refused to comment.
The twice-elected Democrat was impeached and removed from office last year after federal prosecutors arrested him on corruption charges that included trying to sell Obama’s old U.S. Senate seat. He has pleaded not guilty.
Blagojevich continues to accuse prosecutors of persecuting him for routine political deals.
One of those deals, he said, was the possibility of naming Attorney General Lisa Madigan to Obama’s Senate seat in exchange for cooperation on important programs from her powerful father, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
He used an infamously coarse word to refer to the attorney general.
“If I can get this, how much do I love the people of Illinois to make that (expletive) senator?’” Blagojevich said.
Blagojevich is appearing on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” this spring and his trial is expected to start later this year.
On the Net:
www.esquire.com
