Jon Stewart pokes fun at Virgil Goode

BY BERNARD BAKER
Register & Bee Staff writer
Published: August 1, 2008

U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode, R-5th, isn’t laughing at “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” segment that pokes fun at the Rocky Mount Republican.

Goode was featured in a clip on Tuesday night’s episode of the show reportedly riding in a gas-guzzling silver Hummer plastered with his campaign signs and those of other GOP candidates.

The segment was filmed during the Scottsville Fourth of July parade. On the show, Goode was portrayed as friendly to big oil companies and unaffected by high gas prices.

“First of all, I never watch ‘The Jon Stewart Show,’” Goode said Thursday from his Washington, D.C., office. “I didn’t ride in the Hummer. I don’t even know who owned the Hummer.”

The show also compared rap musicians with Republicans because they both like guns and money.

“I don’t know what a rapper is,” Goode said.

Goode pointed a finger at his Democratic opponent Tom Perriello for filming the parade and making it appear like he was hiding in the huge sports utility vehicle. He said Perriello and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama are the candidates of celebrities, and that’s why they went after him.

Jessica Barba, Perriello spokesperson, said Goode was walking in the parade and not riding in the Hummer. She said the campaign has nothing to do with the video and never had any contact with Jon Stewart.

“It was a humorous video made by someone not affiliated with our campaign,” Barba said.

Goode said the parade’s path was about one-and-a-half miles long and mostly heads downhill until it ends in the downtown section. He said there’s no way he could hand out fans and pencils if he was buckled inside the Hummer.