The controversial politician appeared on 'Good Morning America' to discuss on his association with newly-elected Barack Obama.
- Nov 15, 2008
AceShowbiz - Chicago professor and Vietnam-era domestic terrorist, William Ayers sat down with Chris Cuomo of ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday, November 14 to discuss some things, mainly the one on his association to the newly-elected president, Barack Obama. Among the questions that Cuomo threw to him was why did Ayers decide to call Obama a "family friend" while Obama prefer to call him a guy from neighborhood.
When Obama was running for the presidency, talks were rife on his association with Ayers that was thought as a possible jeopardy on his chance to win the election. "GMA" played some quotes from Obama's rivals, Hilary Clinton, Sarah Palin and John McCain that emphasized on this matter before welcoming Ayers to the show.
Cuomo got straight to the point, asking Ayers whether he has a special relationship with Obama or not. Ayers answered, "I knew Barack Obama, absolutely, and I knew him probably as well as thousands of other Chicagoans and like millions and millions of other people worldwide, I wish I knew him better right now."
Cuomo took a jab to this saying that everybody "were not asked to help start his political career in their home." Ayers responded, "I was asked by the state senator to have a coffee for Barack Obama when he first ran for office and we had him in our home and I think he was probably in 20 homes that day, as far as I know, but that was the first time I really met him."
And when he is confronted on the using of term "family friend" when referring to Obama, Ayers explained, "I'm talking there about the fact that I became an issue unwittingly and unwillingly in the campaign and I decided that I didn't want to answer any of it at that moment because it was such a profoundly dishonest narrative, but I'm describing there how the blogosphere characterized the relationship. I would say, really, that we knew each other in a professional way, again, on the same level as, say, thousands of other people and I am a guy around the neighborhood, incidentally. Absolutely."
The full transcript of the conversation between Cuomo and Ayers can be read at Chicago Sun-Times.
- Part 1
- Part 2
