TUSD Board Member Michael Hicks Appears on Tucson Radio and Says Daily Show Misconstrued His Comments

Apr 5, 2012
12:46 AM

When you have problems, you tell your story to friends.

On Wednesday, Tucson Unified School District school board member Michael Hicks, who is facing a backlash for his appearance on The Daily Show this week and his views on the district's ban on Mexican American Studies, gave a radio interview to local Tucson radio. In the end, it was 10 minutes of fluff. Softball questions and easy answers.

Hicks said that he regretted making an appearance on The Daily Show, that the entire interview was 3.5 hours long, that he was "naive" about The Daily Show's intentions and that he wanted to help people in any way he could. He claimed that The Daily Show and some bloggers are destructive. He claims that his family is getting harassed, that he is getting phone calls at 4 in the morning, and said that the people are taking this too seriously.

In addition, Hicks said that he has nothing to apologize for his interview but he should apologize for what The Daily Show did to his interview. He said that The Daily Show blatantly "spliced" the show and said that people thought it was real and that he didn't say those things.

"Of course I know who Rosa Parks is," Hicks said. "It was an unfortunate thing, I am owning up to it." Hicks went on to say that the entire "Rosa Clark" piece was fabricated by The Daily Show. 

"I did not say the things in the sequence that [The Daily Show] is portraying." Hicks is standing by his word that The Daily Show misrepresented his comments."

"I am not going to allow bullies to bully me."

Hicks is currently facing a recall effort for his seat on the TUSD board.

The entire interview can be heard here: Michael Hicks interview with Jon Justice.