Finally, McCain called on me. I said, “Jamaal Rosenthal, The Gay Black Jew.” He looked as though he didn’t understand what I had said, but he smiled anyway.
“Senator, do you wear undergarment protection, you know, for a bladder control problem? And if so, as President, would your Depends have a Presidential seal? Like the special M&Ms they have at the White House?”
McCain’s face quickly turned red but he was speechless. Twelve Secret Service agents hauled me within 15 seconds.
Of course, I never expected to get an answer out of McCain. But I didn’t have to. I always carry a thick wad of $100 bills when I’m working as a reporter. You never know when a few hundred dollars can loosen some lips.
And I knew that most of his senior advisors were lobbyists. While the lobbyist/advisors would not go on the record, the first three I contacted eagerly took my cash.
For a mere $100, the first lobbyist confirmed my hypothesis: “McCain wears Depends undergarments. Sometimes he goes days without changing them. I prefer to talk to him on my cell phone.”
The second lobbyist demanded $200, but she gave me some free campaign food. “McCain wets his pants, I mean Depends, at least four times a day. He actually told me once that he enjoys the freedom of not having to go to the bathroom.”
Finally, the third lobbyist/adviser supplied an interesting detail. “When he hasn’t changed his Depends all day, he walks differently. I think it’s all the urine weight he’s carrying around his waist.”
Once it was clear that I was going to publish the story, Senator McCain’s Communications Director, Jill Hazelbaker, issued a statement late last night explaining the situation.
“Yesterday, Senator McCain gave a speech at a nursing home in Pittsburgh. And like Hillary Clinton wearing a hijab in Saudi Arabia or Obama dressing as a Somali elder in Kenya, he wore the traditional nursing home garments out of respect for his audience. It was a long day and he simply forgot to take them off.”