WASHINGTON, July 27, 2012 — Now it’s official, Mitt Romney is not ready for prime time. His remarks in London, insulting the British for their organizing of the Olympics, makes us wonder what he would be like as president when he would be the Diplomat-in-Chief.
Read for yourself what Romney said in an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams just after touching down in London for the Olympics, his first stop on his whirl-wind tour of Britain, Poland and Israel to burnish his non-existent foreign affairs credentials.
“There are a few things that were disconcerting, the stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials, that obviously is not something which is encouraging.”
Romney also questioned whether the British people were that enthusiastic about the games being held there, adding, “Do they (the British) come together and celebrate the Olympic moment? That’s something which we only find out once the Games actually begin.”
Now that is a snarky thing to say about the Brits when you arrive as a guest in their country, questioning whether they will support the Olympics or not. And this from a man who supposedly saved the Olympics in Salt Lake City back in 2002. Is he trying to show off just how important he is, the big Olympics know-it-all?
Whatever his reasoning and whether he believes it or not, it was an impertinent moment.
Since then Romney has backed down from his intemperate comments, back-pedaling actually, now saying, “My experience with regards to the Olympics is it is impossible for absolutely no mistakes to occur.”
“Of course there will be errors from time to time, but those are all overshadowed by the extraordinary demonstrations of courage, character and determination by the athletes. The Games are, after all, about the athletes, the volunteers and the people of the community that come together to celebrate those athletes.”
Sorry, Mitt, it is too little and too late. The damage is done and the British press has leapt all over your foot-in-mouth moment.
Enthusiastic crowds outside Olympic Stadium AP
Prime Minister Cameron said, “We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world. Of course it’s easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere.”
The allusion was to the Salt Lake City Olympics.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, throwing Romney’s words back at him during a rally of thousands who greeted the conclusion of the 69-day Olympic torch relay around Britain, thundered, “There’s a guy called Mitt Romney who wants to know whether we’re ready. Are we ready?”
The crowd roared back, “Yes, yes we are!”
And England’s newspapers had a field day. Just look at some of the headlines:
“PM [Prime Minister] rebuffs Romney over readiness for Olympics,” Times of London web site
“Romney’s Olympics blunder stuns No. 10 and hands gift to Obama.” The Guardian’s web site
“PM delivers Olympic putdown to Romney,” The Times
Romney backer Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said the negative press does not concern the campaign, “The reality is we are not worried about overseas headlines. I think the focus needs to continue to be on what’s happening at home.”
Good try, Jindal, but it ain’t working.
And the Obama campaign relishes Romney’s remarks, coming right after an aide had told a British tabloid that Mitt’s “Anglo-Saxon heritage makes him better suited than President Obama to further our a relationship with Britain.
Romney then later had to say he wasn’t sure who the guy was who made that comment, and “I’m generally not enthusiastic about adopting the comments made by people who are unnamed. I have a lot of advisors.”
Not enthusiastic? How about renouncing the entire nasty innuendo?
The Obama campaign has to love moments like this. They probably can’t wait to see what mess Romney steps into next when he bounds off the plane in Poland.
We have to wonder if Romney will now show up for the Olympics as planned. But if he does, look for an Olympic size booing to erupt once the crowd finds Mitt in their midst.
To contact Catherine Poe, see above. Her work appears in Ad Lib at the Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. She can also be heard on Democrats for America’s Future. She is also a contributor to broadcast, print and online media.
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