Talk show host Montel Williams offered a somewhat ambivalent endorsement, despite briefly dating Vice President Kamala Harris more than 20 years ago.
Williams, 68, initially said he was “ready to campaign” if the Maryland governor were to run for president after Joe Biden left office on Sunday and endorsed Wes Moore to lead the Democratic presidential tally.
“I’ve watched @GovWesMoore lead my home state of Maryland, and I know leadership when I see it,” Williams posted on X on Monday morning.
After an apparent flood of responses to the post, Williams appeared to clarify his comments, retweeting Governor Moore’s post endorsing Harris a few hours later.
“Just a reminder to everyone, I retweeted this,” Williams said in a follow-up post.
The two dated briefly around 2001 and were photographed walking the red carpet together at the Multiple Sclerosis Support Gala in California that year.
Harris was working as a lawyer at the time of her relationship with Williams and little is known about the pair’s relationship.
Williams appeared to anticipate the attention he would receive after Biden withdrew and endorsed Harris, asking his followers to guess “how many creepy media inquiries they would receive” after the news.
His representatives went on the defensive, promising to repost any media inquiries asking for “creepy, misogynistic” questions for comment about Williams’ relationship with Harris.
Williams, a Maryland native who made history as the first black Marine accepted into the U.S. Navy’s officer training program, responded to criticism for endorsing Moore over Harris by saying he wasn’t surprised he was impressed by the fellow military veteran.
“Is it any wonder that I would be interested in a politician who graduated from the Naval Academy and whose leadership has impressed me?” Williams wrote.
