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Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) can’t get enough of Stephen Colbert.
The lawmaker returns Thursday to the television studio where a few cocaine-and-hooker jokes the comedian coaxed out of him in July 2006 earned Wexler a level of notoriety that reached far beyond the satirical news show’s late-night time slot.
“Many people have asked me exactly what I was thinking when I said these things,” Wexler writes in his new book, Fire-Breathing Liberal: How I Learned to Survive (and Thrive) in the Contact Sport of Congress.
“The answer’s simple. This is a comedy show. What separated me from a lot of journalists is that I realized it was a joke.”
Wexler, who is going on “The Colbert Report” to promote his book, is making his first solo appearance on the program since the cocaine-prostitute segment. (He and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., did live shots in November 2006 for the midterm elections.)
Wexler is traveling to New York for the in-studio interview and has been preparing by watching past Colbert newscasts.
Wexler got into trouble for following the host’s instructions to repeat statements that could doom the politician’s reelection if his 2006 race were contested. Those statements included “I enjoy cocaine because it’s a fun thing to do.” At Colbert’s urging, he said he enjoys prostitutes “because it’s a fun thing to do — much like cocaine.”
“If you combine the two together, it’s probably even more fun,” he said.
The day after the show, stories hit the mainstream media — including The Associated Press and NBC’s “Today Show” — characterizing Wexler’s appearance as a genuine admission of the use of cocaine and prostitution. On the following night’s show, Colbert took the unprecedented move of refuting the news accounts and defending the congressman.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), then the minority leader, issued a verbal warning discouraging other lawmakers from going on Colbert’s show. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) made a similar statement as Democratic Caucus chairman to freshman Democrats at the beginning of the 110th Congress.
Speaking with The Hill, Wexler said he harbors no hard feelings against the comedian, as he knew what he was getting into before he sat down for the interview. On the contrary, he praised shows like Colbert’s and Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show,” calling them “a method of political communication that is very powerful and going to be more powerful.”
Wexler realized he was in trouble shortly after the now-infamous segment aired.
“At the end of my three-minute thing, my daughter was getting hundreds of these text messages from her friends, saying, ‘Your dad’s the coolest guy in the world,’ ” he said.
Though Eric Johnson, Wexler’s chief of staff, was left to clean up much of the cocaine-prostitute mess, he said the lawmaker’s aides have no fear of their boss’s newest Colbert appearance.
“We are not the least bit nervous,” he said in an e-mail. “He is there to be interviewed about his book and he will just be himself.”
At least one person is thrilled about the congressman’s Colbert encore: Ben Graber, Wexler’s reelection opponent.
“Maybe he’ll repeat again he likes cocaine and prostitution, or maybe he’ll add to it,” Graber said. “Yes, I’ll definitely be watching.” |
