Chicago

Steve Harvey Meets With President-Elect Trump to Talk Inner Cities

"I walked away feeling like I had just talked with a man who genuinely wants to make a difference in this area."

Steve Harvey was invited by the Obama and Trump transition teams to meet with President-Elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower earlier Friday.

"Well, you know, it's not my jump into politics. I'm not gonna pass a background check. But it's just me following orders from my friend, President Obama, who says, 'Steve, you gotta,' as he told everybody, get out from behind your computer, stop tweeting and texting, and get out there and sit down and talk," Harvey told reporters following the meeting. "So I stepped from behind my microphone and I came and talked to the guy that's gonna be the 45th president of the United States. I did what I was supposed to do."

At the meeting, Trump introduced Harvey to Dr. Ben Carson, Trump's pick for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, over the phone. They discussed housing and mentoring programs for inner cities youths. Harvey wants to "bring about some positive in the inner cities," which he felt was his "only agenda."

Harvey and Carson say they want to make a difference in cities like Chicago and Detroit. "Carson expressed that cause, quite naturally, he's from Detroit," said Harvey.

"I walked away feeling like I had just talked with a man who genuinely wants to make a difference in this area," said Harvey in a tweet posted after the meeting.

"It's an honor to be invited to talk and I think that's the only way that we're gonna unify our country. We gotta talk, you know. President Obama said, 'You gotta sit down and talk,'" Harvey told a reporter.

When asked about Trump's pick for Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, who has been criticized for his work against civil rights, Harvey said "I don't really like commenting on stuff I don't really understand or know about."

Harvey, who turns 60 on Jan. 17, told reporters he would not be attending Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20 because, he deadpanned, his wife informed him they would not be attending.

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