THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 12, 1996 TAG: 9611120264
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 73 lines
The state NAACP demanded an apology Monday from Sen. John Warner for saying he was ``set up'' during a televised debate by a surprise charge that an aide used a racial epithet.
The president of the Virginia chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People angrily denied that the senator was set up during the Nov. 1 debate and threatened to sue Warner over the remark.
``I vehemently deny that that happened,'' state NAACP president Paul C. Gillis said during a news conference.
The organization is considering ``suing for defamation of character'' because of the damage Warner's remark does to the NAACP's reputation, Gillis said. If Warner retracts the remark, ``It would go a long way toward healing the hurt that I feel,'' Gillis said.
NAACP officials who organized the debate were angered when Lyn Williams, a volunteer aide to Warner, said during a telephone confrontation with NAACP officials hours before the debate that it had been ``nigger-rigged.''
Gillis asked Warner about Williams' remarks in the first question of the debate.
A clearly shaken Warner said he knew nothing of the racial slur and then called Williams, who is black, to the podium.
Williams said he did not use ``n-rigged'' as a description of Gillis but of last-minute changes made by NAACP officers to the format of the debate between John Warner and Democrat Mark Warner. The senator fired the aide immediately after the debate.
The confrontation arose over the senator's request to have his introduction by the president of a predominantly black university televised. Gillis refused. Williams said he thought the NAACP was reneging on a commitment.
Several Virginia newspapers quoted the senator after the debate as saying it was a ``set up.'' But Warner spokeswoman Susan Magill declined Monday to say whether Warner was referring to being embarrassed on live TV or the fact that Hampton University president William Harvey was not allowed to introduce him.
In a prepared statement Monday, Warner said, ``Given the dignity with which the NAACP has accorded me, and I have accorded them over the many years of my public service, I do not find that same level of fairness and full disclosure was accorded me in connection with the debate of Nov. 1, 1996.''
Linda Byrd Harden, executive secretary of the state NAACP, said there was no change in the debate format.
Harden, who appeared at the news conference with Gillis, also challenged Warner's statement that he knew nothing of Williams' remark before the debate.
``Senator Warner during the debate feigned not having any prior knowledge of the controversial remarks,'' she said. ``The senator's campaign director, John Hishta, had been informed of the issue more than one hour before the debate.
``If Senator Warner was set up, it was by his campaign staff if they failed to bring this matter to his immediate attention,'' she said.
But Warner reiterated Monday that he knew nothing of the remark before the debate.
``Why did Mr. Gillis feel compelled to disrupt (the debate) with a most negative accusation?'' Warner said. ``The reaction to him, not me, was one of shock by the audience in the room. Think of the dismay of the TV viewing audience. . . ''
Harden said the senator came to her after the debate and apologized for Williams' remark.
She said the NAACP has had ``a very good relationship'' with Warner during his 18 years in office. ``The senator has always been up-front with me and that's why I was caught by surprise by Senator Warner's statement,'' she said.
John Warner defeated Mark Warner with 53 percent of the vote. The men are not related. ILLUSTRATION: Sen. John Warner fired aide Lyn Williams, who is
black, for using the ``N-word'' to refer to NAACP officials. by CNB