‘Shove it,’ shouts Romney aide
Mitt Romney’s six-day international trip ended as it began, with the candidate’s attempt at a show of statesmanship clouded, this time by an aide’s confrontation with reporters at a war memorial in the Polish capital.
Romney was in Warsaw Tuesday to praise “free enterprise” as a model for Europe to solve its debt crisis. “As some wonder about the way forward out of economic recession and fiscal crisis, the answer is to look to Poland,” he said in a speech at the University of Warsaw.
Yet, when reporters shouted out questions to Romney at the war memorial before his speech, an aide asked reporters to “show some respect here.” As the media pressed on, aide Rick Gorka said, “Kiss my ass” and “shove it.”
Romney acknowledged the incident in an interview with Fox News, saying “there will be some in the fourth estate” who “are far more interested in finding something to write about that is unrelated to the economy.” He suggested the media will “try to find anything else to divert from the fact that these last four years have been tough years for our country.”
The episode — for which the Romney aide later apologized to reporters — generated a new series of cable news headlines back home near the close of a three-nation tour that started with Romney questioning security preparations for the Olympics in London and included a stop in Jerusalem where the Republican presidential candidate spoke of the Jewish people’s “culture” as a reason for their economic success relative to Palestinians.
Romney’s Warsaw address, an opportunity to refocus his message in the final hours of his tour, cited Poland’s opposition to “the false promise of a government-dominated economy” as an inspiration to Americans. The country’s economy expanded 4.3 per cent in 2011, among the fastest in the European Union.
Romney, who has refused to publicly discuss the criticism of his trip, has struggled to overcome a series of distractions that have undermined his foreign policy message. Even as he gave his speech today, television reporters were on camera live from Warsaw describing the gaffes and tensions with press.
Romney aides insisted that the trip will have little impact on voters back home. While foreign travels are a good way to help candidates bulk up their resumes in preparation for the three presidential debates this fall, U.S. voters are far more concerned about the country’s slow economic growth, said strategist Stuart Stevens. “People understand that big elections are about big things,” he said.
Monday, the former Massachusetts governor and private- equity executive was criticized by Palestinian officials for comments he made suggesting cultural reasons for Israel’s economy outpacing that of the West Bank. That followed another episode at the start of his trip, when Romney’s questioning of the U.K’s readiness to manage the Olympic Games riled his hosts in London. He later clarified his remarks, explaining that he was confident this year’s would be a success.
Tuesday, Romney did not try to explain his remarks. Instead, he focused on his visit to Poland — the final stop of his tour, and the leg where he received the warmest reception.
“Our friendship spans the centuries and is built by our common values and love of freedom,” he told reporters after a morning meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.