Rod Blagojevich goes on the record

Since Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell the vacant Senate seat of President Barack Obama, Blagojevich has been a staple in the media, often in front of a camera, trying to clear his name. In a series of high- and low-profile appearances, Blagojevich staked out his defense while providing some bizarre moments along the way. Here are some of the more memorable quotes and best videos featuring the former governor.

“I’ve got this thing and it’s f–ing golden, and, uh, uh, I’m just not giving it up for f—in’ nothing. I’m not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it. I can parachute me there.”
-Blagojevich on Obama’s Senate seat replacement, November 5, 2008
“They’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. F— them.”
-On the Obama administration’s political offers regarding the Senate seat replacement, November 11, 2008
“Fire those f—ers.”
-On an attempted deal regarding the Tribune staff’s editorial team and the sale of the Cubs, November 3, 2008
“I … have this need to tell everyone and anyone who would listen that I didn’t do anything wrong and that I am innocent of any criminal wrongdoing.”
-Blagojevich, The Governor: Finally, the Truth Behind the Political Scandal That Continues to Rock the Nation, released September 8, 2009
“You know what’s interesting? How about this — I believe Galileo and Machiavelli are buried in the same church… Because a lot of what’s happened to me is Machiavellian, and yet my vision and the rightness of what I’ve done is kind of Galilean.”
-Blagojevich, Esquire interview, January 2010
“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.”
-Blagojevich, Esquire interview, January 2010
“What I said was stupid, stupid, stupid…I deeply apologize for the way that was said and having said it. Obviously, I am not blacker than President Obama.”
-Blagojevich, apologizing for remarks made in his interview with Esquire, January 12, 2010
“For all the courage and testicular virility you think you have, if I did the things they said I did, and I did wrong things like they want you to believe I did, I would be nowhere near this event.”
-Blagojevich, giving a speech on ethics at Northwestern University, March 2, 2010
“Necessity compelled my wife to go to the Costa Rican jungle and eat tarantulas.”
-Blagojevich, giving a speech on ethics at Northwestern University, March 2, 2010
“We have a mortgage, we have bills to pay, credit card debt, kids in school … so Patti and I are doing the best we can to work through this and earn a living. We’ve been given these unique opportunities … to earn a living that most Americans who’ve lost their jobs didn’t get.”
-Blagojevich, in a press call, April 6, 2010

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