Rep. Wilson's Outburst Aids Rival

September 10, 2009

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September 10, 2009

South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson managed to put himself on the map last night by shouting "You lie!" as President Obama spoke about illegal immigrants. The venue was a shocker though the outburst was not: Wilson has a reputation for remarks that get him in trouble.

MELISSA BLOCK, host:

More now on the moment from the president's speech last night that lots of people have been talking about around the proverbial water cooler. This moment has merited repeated plays on our program today.

President BARACK OBAMA: The reforms...

(Soundbite of booing)

Pres. OBAMA: The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegal.

Representative JOE WILSON (Republican, South Carolina): You lie.

CROWD (Group): Whoa.

Pres. OBAMA: Not true.

BLOCK: You lie, that from Republican Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina. As NPR's Andrea Seabrook reports, it turns out that Wilson's outburst resulted in a flood of campaign donations for his opponent.

ANDREA SEABROOK: With those two words - you lie - South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson bought himself a serious challenge in the next congressional elections. Overnight, angry people all over the country built an instant war chest for Wilson's Democratic challenger Rob Miller. How much? More than $400,000 in less than 24 hours. Wilson did apologize for his outburst in an email sent to reporters last night. He also called the White House to apologize after he was told to by his Republican leadership.

Here's Wilson outside his office today.

Rep. WILSON: Last night, I heard from the leadership that they wanted me to contact the White House and state that my statements were inappropriate. I did. They indicated that they appreciated the call and that we needed to have a civil discussion about the health care issues, and I certainly agree with that.

SEABROOK: Wilson is a committed conservative and avidly supports more strict enforcement of immigration laws. He once interned for legendary South Carolina Republican Strom Thurmond. Today, Democratic leaders seem to try to brush off the whole episode. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House rules do include sanctions for outbursts like that, but…

Representative NANCY PELOSI (Democrat, California; Speaker of the House): As far as I'm concerned, the episode was unfortunate, and Mr. Wilson has apologized. It's time for us to talk about health care and not Mr. Wilson.

SEABROOK: And President Obama told reporters at the White House that he accepts Wilson's apology. Online, it was a different story, though. Democratic and liberal groups saw the money flowing to Miller, Wilson's challenger, and tried to tap into it. Moveon.org and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee both sent out emails soliciting donations to, quote, "send a message to Republicans like Congressman Joe Wilson."

While his opponent raked in money, Wilson's congressional Web site was shut down. The page have one sentence: Due to exceptionally high traffic, this site is temporarily unavailable. The Web site for his campaign does not mention the apology at all; it simply has an online form for donations.

Andrea Seabrook, NPR News, the Capitol.

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