Some people who go to prison find religion. Some discover literature. But former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos, who spent a total of 12 days behind bars, says he found “street cred” as a Trump ally.
Papadopoulos told MSNBC host Ari Melber Tuesday evening that during his jail stint, he was treated like a “fighter” and a bit of a celebrity because the prison was located in the heart of “Trump country.”
Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty in October 2017 for lying to the FBI, revealed earlier Tuesday that he is currently seeking a pardon from President Trump and his “lawyers have formally submitted an application.” He also said he’s considering withdrawing the guilty plea he gave in the Mueller investigation as he now believes he “misspoke to the FBI.”
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Towards the end of his interview with Melber, Papadopoulos—who has a new book out—was asked what it was like for him in prison and how he was treated by the other inmates.
“It was Trump country, OK,” the former Trump campaign adviser replied. “Oxford, Wisconsin, is Trump country, a population of 800 people. I think the federal minimum security camp I was at was one of the major jobs that people had at Oxford, Wisconsin. Quite frankly, I was treated excellent.”
After the MSNBC host asked if he was “saying the other inmates were Trump supporters and viewed you through that lens,” Papadopulous chuckled.
“Let’s say I had some street cred meaning that by the time I got in there—,” he said with a smile, prompting the hip-hop quoting Melber to excitedly push him for details.
“They saw you as a celebrity or a fighter?” The Beat host pressed after Papadopoulos noted the inmates had likely seen him on TV.
“They considered me as [a political celebrity] and as a fighter and that counts for street cred when you get into a place like that even though I was dealing with a lot of doctors, lawyers, businessmen involved in similar crimes like Paul Manafort or Michael Cohen, so it wasn’t a dangerous place,” Papadopoulos stated.
He went on to express shock that prison was “actually cleaner than my university dorm” and that there was a softball stadium, though sadly, it was too cold for him to play ball while he was locked up.
