David Letterman Makes McCain Squirm

Posted by Melissa McEwan, Shakesville at 6:52 AM on October 17, 2008.

So last night, John McCain finally showed up on David Letterman's show, after blowing him off two weeks ago. Here's the whole interview (and if someone can find a transcript, please drop a link in comments):

Letterman: Now, [Palin's] also, I think, she's the one who says that Barack Obama pals around with terrorists. Has she, in fact, said that at rallies and stuff?

McCain: I don't—I don't kn—uhhh [clearly, here, McCain considers saying "I don't know," but realizes he can't get away with that, changes his mind, and admits it] yes. And he did.

Letterman: To terrorists? Like who did he—

McCain: And he refused to—he refused to acknowledge—

Letterman: Who did he pal around with?

McCain: [exasperatedly] William Ayers, who said on 9/11 that he wished he had bombed more, okay? His wife was on the top 10 of the FBI most wanted list—

Letterman: But this all took place when he was an active—with the Weatherman. Barack Obama was eight years old.

McCain: Eight years old—and Mr. Ayers, on two thousand and one, uhh, September eleventh two thousand one, said, "I wish I had bombed more," okay? It's an unrep—

Letterman: But what is the relationship, John? What is their relationship?

McCain: [agitated] That's it! That's all we need to know! That's what Senator Clinton said. We need to know about the relationship.

Letterman: Mm hmm.

McCain: First he said he was just a guy in the neighborhood. And so it's a matter of trusting the word of—

Letterman: I know, I know.

McCain: That's all it is.

Letterman: But you will also admit that we cannot really control who we interact with in our lives a hundred percent. I mean, you have—you have—

McCain: For how long we interact with them, and how we interact with them. But the point is—

Letterman: But you have—you had a—

McCain: The point in this campaign is the economy, and the economy, and the economy—

Letterman: Did you not have a relationship with Gordon Liddy?

[pause]

McCain: Uhh, I met him. I, you know, I mean, uhh—

Letterman: Did you attend a fundraiser at his house?

[pause; audience begins to applaud]

McCain: Gordon Liddy's…?

[McCain looks flummoxed. Paul Schaeffer yells, "I object, your honor!" Dave laughs.]

Letterman: We'll be right back here with Senator McCain everybody.

McCain: I know Gordon Liddy and his son!

[end first video; begin second]

Letterman: How about that Tina Fey—

McCain: I know Gordon Liddy, I—he paid his debt, he went to prison, he paid his debt, as people do. I'm not in any way embarrassed to know Gordon Liddy.

Letterman: [nods; opens his mouth as if to say something to move on]

McCain: And his son, who is also a good friend and supporter of mine.

Letterman: But you understand that the same case could be made of your relationship with him as is being made with William Ayers?

McCain: I—everything about any relationship that I've ever had, I will make completely open and give a complete accounting of. Senator Obama said he was a guy that lived in the neighborhood, okay? It was more than that. We all know that.

Letterman: They—

McCain: Just like ACORN.

Letterman: They served—they served on a committee at one point.

McCain: Yeah, that gave two hundred and thirty thousand dollars to ACORN, which is now involved in what may be the great, one of the great voter frauds in history.

[While McCain is talking, Letterman mutters something about Reagan; by his tone, he might as well be saying "blah blah blah," because he's basically just indicating that McCain is spinning]

Letterman: Yeah, okay.

McCain: It could be! We need to know.

Letterman: Are they—

[crosstalk]

Letterman: Are they double dating? Are they going to dinner? What are they doing? Are they driving cross-country?

McCain: [laughs] Maybe going to Denny's, who knows?

Letterman: To Denny's.

McCain: For the Grand Slam.

Letterman: The Grand Slam.

[McCain laughs like he thinks it's over.]

Letterman: Now she said pals around with terrorists. [McCain's grin falls from his face.] Okay, so that's, let's say—all right, we'll give her William Ayers.

McCain: Ohhh. [laughs tersely}

Letterman: They palled around. He was eight, and William Ayers was twenty-nine. But they palled around.

McCain: Look, there's millions of words said in a campaign! Come on now. Come on.

Letterman: Yeah, well, but—but that's where we live, in politics, isn't it?

McCain: [squirms wildly in his chair] There's millions of words. Yes, indeed. [stammers; gesticulates desperately]

Letterman: Let's talk about Tina Fey.

Tagged as: letterman, mccain

Melissa McEwan writes and edits the blog Shakespeare's Sister.