White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater on Monday denied reports that President-elect Bush discussed the possibility of an administration job with TV evangelist Jim Bakker during a 1985 meeting.
"He met with him, I was there, great meeting, just like hundreds of other meetings he had with people who he was seeking their support," said Fitzwater who will serve Bush in the White House spokesman capacity that he now holds under President Reagan.Fitzwater initially told a White House briefing Monday that Bush "was seeking his support for the campaign, absolutely ... You have hundreds of meetings like that when you're running for president."
But the spokesman subsequently said he had misspoken and that Bush did not solicit campaign support from Bakker.
Fitzwater told reporters at the briefing:
"I don't know what Bakker thought. There was no talk of jobs or payoffs or anything else."