Comedian and radio talk-show host Steve Harvey said Friday that he had "a really cool meeting" with President-elect Donald Trump and Housing and Urban Development nominee Ben Carson to discuss efforts to improve the nation's inner cities that was arranged by the Obama White House.
"We're going to team up and see if we can bring about some positive change to the inner cities, which I felt was my only agenda," Harvey, also the host of the "Family Feud" television game show, told reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York. "He agreed, and he wants to do something.
"I realized that he needs some allies in that department — and he seemed really sincere about it."
Harvey said he talked with Carson by telephone during the session — and some of the cities the Trump administration was targeting include Chicago and Detroit.
"Ben Carson expressed that because quite naturally, he's from Detroit," he said. "I want to do some things in all of the major inner cities to see if we can bring about some change and help some of these young people out.
"That's why I'm here. It was a successful meeting — and he seemed really sincere."
Harvey said that Obama's transition team connected him with Trump officials last week and that he was answering President Barack Obama's call in his farewell speech last week to become more involved in their communities.
"It's just me following orders from my friend, President Obama," he said. "As he told everybody: 'Get out from behind your computer. Stop tweeting and texting and get out there and sit down and talk.
"So, I stepped from behind my microphone — and I came and talked to the guy who's going to be the 45th president of the United States.
"I did what I was supposed to do.
"It's an honor to be invited to talk, and I think that's the only way that we're going to unify our country," Harvey later added. "We've got to talk, you know?
"President Obama said, 'You've got to sit down and talk,' and I really enjoyed the conversation.
"He seemed really sincere," he said of Trump. "He's a genuine person."
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