“Duck Dynasty” Star Counsels Kissing Congressman McAllister
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om Williams/CQ Roll Call(WASHINGTON) — When Vance McAllister needed help in winning his Louisiana congressional seat last year, he turned to Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson for an endorsement.
When the newly-elected McAllister needed a date to January’s State of the Union Address — his first as a congressman — he sent an invitation to Robertson.
Now, barely four months into his first term in the House, the Louisiana Republican is once again turning to Robertson — this time for advice of how to handle being caught on surveillance video making out with one of his aides.
McAllister is hunkered down in his district, largely avoiding the press, and he’s reportedly turned to Robertson for guidance. According to McAllister, his famous friend advised him to keep the drama out of the public’s view.
“Willie told me that he was a friend and that I needed to work things out privately,” McAllister said, according to the Monroe News Star, a Louisiana newspaper.
McAllister, who has skipped two days of votes this week at the Capitol, also told the newspaper he has not spoken to Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the Duck Dynasty family, since news of the scandal broke Monday.
Robertson declined to comment to The News-Star. And ABC News’ requests for a comment from Robertson were not immediately successful.
McAllister rode the coattails of America’s No. 1 rated cable television program to emerge from a jam-packed primary to win a special election in Louisiana’s 5th Congressional district last fall.
Many political pundits credited the self-made millionaire’s political success to his ties with the stars of Duck Dynasty, many of whom endorsed him and campaigned for him.
The Robertson family had to do some damage control of their own last year following comments by Phil Robertson that were perceived as homophobic.
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