Gov. Paterson On Imus: I’ve Been ‘Racialized, Sexualized And Dissolute’

One of the most talked about as-yet-unpublished stories recently was a topic this morning on Imus in the Morning today, as Don Imus interviewed embattled Gov. David Paterson.

It was Paterson’s first TV appearance since his press conference yesterday – and the Governor didn’t hold back in voicing his anger over the rumors.

It started right away, with Imus asking, “How are you?”:

How am I? Well I guess as you know for over two weeks now I’ve been the subject of a number of outrageous rumors that have certainly distracted my ability to govern the state, culminating last weekend with three calls made to media outlets timed exactly to the beginning of the Super Bowl that the Governor of New York is resigning.

Well then. Paterson continued discussing the rumors, calling them “as outrageous as uninformed sources could produce, creating what for any public official is a dismal even Kafka-esque situation, where you can’t even respond because you can’t respond to the rumors about the rumors.”

This whole idea of responding to rumors about rumors is something the New York Times is dealing with now, as its potentially ground-breaking profile of Gov. Paterson is still unpublished.

Imus asked a very direct question, if Paterson has had “a romantic or sexual relationship with anybody other than your wife.” Paterson said no.

Paterson also said that, since he’s entered office, he has been “racialized, sexualized, hyper-sexualized, and dissolute,” and later joked about the rumored restaurant rendezvous, saying, “I’m blind, but I’m not a dope.”

The New York Governor was calm and stuck to his key points in the wide-ranging interview. And Imus didn’t shy away from asking the tough questions that everyone, especially those in New York, are waiting to find out more about.

Here’s part of the interview today:

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