Steve Harvey defended his decision to meet with President-elect Donald Trump on Monday during his radio show, saying he has received backlash since his highly publicized meeting with Trump on Friday.
“On a personal note, a lot of ya’ll hurt me,” he said on his radio show. “You really did. I didn’t expect the backlash to be so fierce.”
Harvey said he felt it was important to meet with the president-elect when asked.
“… I have an obligation to take a seat at the table when invited,” Harvey said. “Change can only happen if you sit at the table… If you’re not at the table you can’t even… suggest what we should be doing. Therefore, it was very important for me to take the meeting.”
Harvey said he was contacted about the meeting by email through his TV show contacts.
“The only way we can heal the divide in this country is through conversation,” he said.
The talk show host said the president-elect asked him what he wanted to be involved in, and Harvey answered he was interested in the initiatives surrounding housing for urban development.
The “Family Feud” host said Trump was “cordial” during their sit-down.
“He was very warm, and honestly, when we talked, he was very sincere,” Harvey said.