Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., is not apologetic for colleague Rep. Joe Wilson’s “you lie” September shout down to President Obama. In fact, he said he wished he would have thought of it himself.
Wilson’s yell came several days after DeMint got grief from the administration for telling conservative activists that killing health care reform would be Obama’s “Waterloo” moment. And, the two Republicans were sitting especially close to each other the night Wilson interrupted the president’s speech.
“When I heard this ‘you lie’ comment, the president turned and looked at me, and I thought, ‘Oh no, they think it’s me,” DeMint told those who attended the D.C. premiere of “Tea Party: The Documentary” on Wednesday.
But then DeMint changed his tune: “And a couple of days later I was saying, after [Wilson] raised a few million dollars off of it, I was thinking, ‘Why didn’t I say that?’ ”
In addition to fundraising gains, Wilson has become a household name since the outburst. That showed at Wednesday’s event, as attendees asked the South Carolina congressman for pictures and handshakes.
Also on hand was former House Majority Leader and FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey and Republican Reps. Tom Price and Marsha Blackburn.
