Jimmy McMillan, the former New York gubernatorial candidate best known for his mantra “The rent is too damn high,” took the Conservative Political Action Conference by storm Friday, giving impromptu speeches in hallways as reporters trailed him through the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.
The appearance preceded McMillan’s announcement on Revolution Radio that he was launching a Republican campaign for president. (McMillan first announced his candidacy in December, 2010.)
McMillan repeated his original slogan, along with the variation “the deficit is too damn high,” while holding a shoe aloft in solidarity with Egyptian protestors. He told onlookers he was defending the future of America’s youth, who are suffering from the mistakes of previous generations.
“We’re asking you to overthrow the vote of your parents,” McMillan said.
The outspoken Vietnam veteran said he realized much of the attention he gathered was because he looks “like Hulk Hogan” and makes people laugh, but added that his message was serious.
“Every child is my child,” McMillan said. “I am doing what daddy do for his children. All of you are my children. You have been mistreated.”
President Obama was not spared in the tirade. McMillan said Obama’s campaign for change had resulted only in “spare change.”