ESSENCE.COM: Going back to those negative comments, a lot of people do think you were paid by somebody to say those remarks. How did get to participate in the town hall event?
HARRIS: Through my public speaking work I’ve had an opportunity to speak to the Republican Party in Waukesha on two occasions. And my radio show is popular in that area, so people know who I am. I contacted the Party in Waukesha and said, “If you have two tickets, I would love to be there to show my support.” And so they had me pick up tickets, and my wife and I went to the event. While waiting in line I was standing right next to the parents of the chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, whose wife was my son’s first grade teacher. This is by pure coincidence. My wife notices her name on the envelope, and we start laughing and talking. Now, the father has health issues so they called their son and said, “We can’t wait in this long line.” And when the security guard came to get them, the father said, “That’s James T. Harris.” The security guard said, “Come with me.” So, we walked in and we sat in reserved seats. I said, “You can seat me anywhere you want,” but seeing as we were two of only four or five Black people out of thousands of people there, they strategically place people where they’ll be seen. There’s nothing new in that. So that’s how we ended up in that area. I had no idea I’d be that close. I didn’t go into that event knowing I would speak and ask a question. When I read stuff about me being a plant, and that I’m speaking on behalf of the McCain camp, it’s laughable! There was no plan to this.
Harris says McCain whispered in his ear, something that Harris said he won't tell:
ESSENCE.COM: So, let’s talk about that hug…
HARRIS: That’s another thing I want to clear up. When he came over to me and was bending down, I was like, “What, is he going to hug me?” He didn’t. He whispered something in my ear. He actually just put his hand on my shoulder. But in that moment I was like, “What am I going to do? I can’t not hug him. I can’t pull away. But if I hug him it’s going to look crazy! This is like Sammy Davis, Jr., with Nixon!” But he wasn’t trying to hug me. He just leaned down and whispered something in my ear.
ESSENCE.COM: What did he say?
HARRIS: I’m not going to tell you. That was between the Senator and me. After the next debate I’ll be willing to talk about it.
Read the rest.
This guy lacks integrity:
ESSENCE.COM: At the town hall you said McCain should talk more about Obama’s connection to the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. But last spring you could barely turn on the news without seeing Rev. Wright. Don’t you think there’s been enough attention given to that relationship?
HARRIS: Again, this is further evidence that this thing wasn’t scripted. I thought I had said something different. I wanted to say Barney Frank and Harold Raines, because I believe their fingerprints are all over this economic demise. These people were in my brain, and yet I didn’t articulate it. I went blank. It’s not just Rev. Wright and Reverend Pfleger. It sounded like I was saying, “Bring up all these old things and beat him over the head with it.” Well, you should, in conjunction with the new names that have come up over the past few weeks. I’m sitting in this town hall meeting, and Senator McCain is talking about what he’s going to do about global warming and all these other things. At one point I just raised my hand and said, “I want to know when are you going to take it to Barack Obama?”
