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Video: Jimmy McMillan Doesn't Want To Talk About His Rent
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 26, 2010
Modified Oct 26, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 26, 2010
Modified Oct 26, 2010
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Jimmy McMillan, the darling of last week's NY gubernatorial debate, made another appearance on MSNBC's The Last Word. After showing the Saturday Night Live skit spoofing the Vietnam veteran-turned-affordable housing advocate/politician, host Lawrence O'Donnell wanted to get to the bottom of how much McMillan actually pays for his one bedroom in Brooklyn. But McMillan sorta dodged the question, saying his movement is not about him. Here's a rough transcript:
I pay rent. I'm in it for all the people that lost their homes to foreclosures, the children sleeping in homeless shelters...This is why I'm here. I'm not the plain old politicians, everyone wants to get on and talk about them, what they are going to do. [This] is the fight for the people. That's why the Rent Is Too Damn High party [is] fighting for the people. People can't afford breakfast, lunch and dinner Working eight hours a day, 40 hours a week, sometimes a third job. This [is a] problem. I will not fall down that same old political trend everybody else has. The Rent Is Too Damn High Party is different. We can create 3 to 6 million jobs but can't do it if everybody talks about themselves... People needs to work. Mothers and fathers have to work three jobs and can't work to afford to feed their children. I'm a Vietnam veteran, my brothers are coming from Iraq and Afghanistan homeless. Those are my brothers.
O'Donnell said, "Okay, I'm going to go home to watch the rerun of the show to figure out what you just said. And we're going to get you back to find out how much rent you're paying."
As for the SNL skit, McMillan said, "I have never seen anyone imitate me. It is funny as h-e-l-l."
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jimmy mcmillan
rent
rent is too damn high
snl
spoof
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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