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Crossfire
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In the Crossfire

Don King sounds off on politics

King
King: "I'm a Republicrat. I want to do whatever it is going to be good for my people, the American people. That's what really counts."

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Boxing promoter Don King is one of the most colorful figures in any sport. Why is the proposal of naming a stretch of road after him in Atlantic City, New Jersey, sparking so much controversy?

King, chairman and founder of Don King Productions, stepped into the "Crossfire" ring Friday with hosts Paul Begala and Robert Novak to discuss the controversy and his view of Bush and the Republican Party.

NOVAK: Mr. King, we're going to start with some gripping hot news about the attempt to change the name of Mississippi Avenue in Atlantic City to Don King Boulevard. A lot of people don't like it.

Now, one of your admirers, Sam Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daily News, he's a columnist ... let me read to you what he said about you in today's paper. He said, "What better place to honor a man who has fleeced so many naive and trusting boxers of their hard-earned money than a city that has built and rebuilt tall buildings by doing the same to its many customers? What better place to honor a man known far more for his nonsense than substance than a place that looks far prettier at night than it does in the day? So let's build Don King Boulevard in Atlantic City."

NOVAK: Do you have any response to that, sir?

KING: That is what makes America so great. The opportunity, the privilege that you have in this country is far beyond anything and anywhere else in the world. And to have a difference of opinion, to have that freedom of speech -- I mean, everyone should have the right to be able to speak, as long as they don't encroach, you know, on you and take anything from you. So that's his opinion. Listen, I respect that.

NOVAK: Does that mean a lot to you, to get that street named for you there?

KING: Yes, I think it's quite an honor. I didn't ask for it, but since they did decided to do it, I think it's something that's worthwhile, and I think it really humbles me that they would even choose to select to name a street after me. But I am a true American, you know, the living attestation to the American dream, you know, not the proud boy that was a Horatio Alger that could marry the boss' daughter. There's no boss' daughter here. You have to come in here and deal with life as it is in this great nation called America. God bless America.

BEGALA: Well, I join you in that salute. Mr. King, I love the outfit, but I've got to ask you about these buttons. I'm counting one, two, three, four, five different Bush buttons there now. Are you a Bush Republican?

Bush buttons
Two of the five Bush buttons on Don King's jacket.

KING: I am a Bush Republican because I think that Bush is a dynamic leader. He is decisive.

BEGALA: You do?

KING: Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Yes, I do.

You must understand something about America. He rose to the occasion. When he won the election, it was not by the electorate, it was by the court. But then he said, "I promise you one thing, I will earn the respect of the American people. And I will appoint people around me that [will] give me their opinion. I will make the decision, but at least I'm going to have it and not going to be where they [have] to be yes men." That he has done. He got one of the greatest, tightest teams in history, you know, with Karl Rove and Andy Card. And they are really playing very meticulously, tenaciously, and they patiently carried out a plan that swept the nation. So now the man is making decisions.

Then comes that terrible, despicable act of terrorism on 9/11. The man rose to the occasion. He didn't know it was going to happen, but since it did happen, he rose. And every American should thank God that they do have a man in the White House that makes decisions that everyone respects. Niccolo Machiavelli said it's better to be feared than to be loved but if you could have both, great. I think Bush has them both because when he speaks, they listen. That means friend and foe. They have to understand when George W. Bush says something, he means it. You better listen to what he says. So that gives us the respect to hold us in what we're going to do.

NOVAK: You know, Mr. King, you, I think, are known as what we in politics call a switch-hitter. And that's a good thing in baseball. It's not so good in politics. That means you give to both sides. You were a big Bill Clinton man, too, aren't you?

KING: Yes ... I'm an American man, you know what I mean? I'm a Republicrat. I want to do whatever it is going to be good for my people, the American people. That's what really counts. It's what's best for this country. And when you're dealing with what's best for this country, neither color, race, religion or creed has got to be played in the foreground of that. You got to deal with what's going to be better for the country itself. That means every race, color, creed and religion inclusively.

NOVAK: Could it be you're for whoever is in the White House?

KING: You know, I can say this: You ain't going to do too much unless you have access to power. If you have no access to power, you can't help the loser, if you ain't got the winner.

BEGALA: There you go. Those who come early get good access. Those who come late get good government, right?

KING: But you got to be able to work with it. There's a thing about this country, you know, one land, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We got to work toward that. But at least we have a profound direction, one land, indivisible, under God with liberty and justice for all. Now we got to make that come true, you know what I mean? That's the premise of our great nation called America.



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