(CNN) - Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is apologizing for telling Esquire Magazine he's "blacker than Barack Obama."
"What I said was stupid, stupid, stupid," he told reporters outside his home Monday.
"I was speaking metaphorically. Obviously I'm not blacker than President Obama," said Blagojevich, who was impeached last year after being accused of trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by President Obama.
In the February edition of Esquire, Blagojevich said Obama was "catapulted in on hope can change, what we hope the guy is …
"What the f***? Everything he's saying's on the teleprompter. 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. I saw it all growing up," he said.
The governor apologized for his "stupid comments," but said he was expressing "real frustration" that nothing has changed under the Obama administration.
"Am I frustrated? Yes. Was I expressing frustration? Yes. Was that frustration real? Yes. Is it still real? Yes. Was the way I said what I said stupid? Absolutely yes, stupid," Blagojevich said.
Blagojevich last year pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges. A federal grand jury in April indicted him on 16 felony counts, including racketeering, conspiracy, wire fraud and making false statements to investigators. His trial is slated for later this year.
The embattled ex-governor has maintained his innocence, insisting that "when the full story's heard …. it'll correct itself."
"What helps me get up every morning is, I'm fighting the fight for something much larger than me," Blagojevich said in the interview. "I'm fighting for what is at the basis of what our country is supposed to be, a place where you're presumed innocent, where if in fact you did something wrong, the system plays out in such a way where the truth comes out, not people being forced to lie and being squeezed to lie. If you love your country as I do, this is a fight worth fighting."
Blagojevich appears on NBC's "The Celebrity Apprentice" in March. His wife, Patti, was on the network's "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here" this past summer, lasting 23 days in the Costa Rican jungle before being voted off.
From CNN Politics
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Let's not forget that all of the Illinois democratic political heavyweights, including Barak Obama, Dick Durbin, Rahm Emanuel and Michael Madigan, endorsed Rod Blagojevich for governor both times he ran for office.
That certainly makes you abonified stupido!!
That's 'cause he is stupid, stupid, STUPID
The governor apologized for his "stupid comments," but said he was expressing "real frustration" that nothing has changed under the Obama administration.
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I hear ya, bro.
Blago used to be stupid, he is stupid, and he will always be stupid. And a crook.
I live in IL so I know.
This type of ignorance is way out of hand. So what he is frustrated, who isn't? This idiot sounds to me like he is on drug, for him to start ranting on about the President as he did is pure nonsense. I can't wait for his trial, I hope they lock his stupid A$% up for 50 years.
White people, "Stop it", just "Stop the ignorance". Yall don't have to be "Stuck on Stupid" forever when it comes to our race.. Geesh!!
What a way to get attention .... just mention Obama and get some. Now, will you please just go away?
DUH we all know you are Stupid as Stupid comes!
why is this knuckle head getting any press at all????????????? i guess you need to fill the spaces with something....
Isn't EVERYthing Blago says "stupid, stupid, stupid?" Pretty much.
You have to love this because liberals defined Bill Clinton as the "First "Black President" long before Obama. And now they go nuts because a white man defined himself as black. Hmm, I'm getting dizzy just thinking about it..
This guy is a moron, but he does speak the truth when it comes to Obama. He really isn't getting anything done other than spending money which we will be taxed to death for this year.
What an amazing tool.
This man is a lunatic.
Crazy as a fox, with a coiffure that has endless body and shine; it just doesn't quit.
This man needs to find himself.
Why is he stupid for saying htat? Clinton claimed he was the first black President.
Well, we already knew that.
This pathetic self-absorbed weasel isn't worth hearing about anymore. The next time a story runs on this crook, it should be on his prison sentence.
Isn't he in prison?!
A SLIP of the LIP will sink a SHIP – you are 'tossed' overboard without a life jacket.................LOSER!
Anyone who knows COLORS could LQQK @ you and can tell YOU are not BLACK.............LOSER!!
You are an idiot and will regret what you said for the rest of your LIFE!!
This whole thing is turning out to be even more ridiculous than the journalism aspect of it. The comments on the initial story show that more people are like Blagojevich than we think. Why are we still equating race with social characteristics? At first I thought it'd be harmless to make a joke about it, but now it's just sad. Perhaps this country does need to talk about race like Holder suggested instead of sweeping it under a rug and waiting for idiots like Blagojevich to be brave enough and expose his ignorance. And another thing, from the coverage of this, why are people portraying a shoeshiner to be a "less than" job, and furthermore linking blacks to the profession. Clearly the "less than" profession is the politician who is too inconsiderate to understand his own constituents and the law. I never heard of a shoeshiner being fired for selling his "sole" for a quick buck!
CNN is stupid, stupid, stupid, for trying to make media hay out of this.
Well said Mr. Blagojevich...now prepare to do time in jail like most black men in america...and be a man about it... you jerk!
He should have said, "I'm slightly more corrupt than Obama."
Hahahha, politicians are becoming more and more stupid. For God sake, what does it accomplishes for one to say I'm blacker than the president of the united States. What difference does it really make if one is blacker or whiter than the president?
If the statement by Blago was a joke, then it wasn't funny, if it was meant to score a point then it didn't score any. If it is for a attention seeking, then he must be really bored. He needs to get a job.