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Romney Minimizes Gay-Bashing: ‘In High School I Did Some Dumb Things’

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Mitt Romney, still claiming to have no memory of his multiple gay-bashing attacks on several students — at least one of whom was gay — while he attended an exclusive high school, attempted to minimize his accountability today by calling his actions “hijinks,” and saying, “Back in high school I did some dumb things.”

READ: Mitt Romney Was A High School Gay-Bashing Bully

Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, stands accused in a Washington Post exposé, as The New Civil Rights Movement reported, of being “a gay-bashing high school bully who said, ‘Atta girl,’ to effeminate boys and shockingly had a days-long emotional attack that culminated with him pinning down a gay classmate and cutting off his bleached-blond long hair.”

Today, Justin Sink at The Hill reports that in the wake of the Post article, Romney went on the “Kilmeade & Friends” radio program to defend himself:

Mitt Romney said Thursday that “back in high school I did some dumb things” but insisted that the prep school pranks chronicled in a news story were never intended to target gay students specifically.

“They talked about the fact that I played a lot of pranks in high school, and they described some that, boy, you just say to yourself, ‘Back in high school,’ you know, ‘I did some dumb things.’ If anyone was hurt by that or offended by that, obviously, I apologize. But overall, high school years were a long time ago,” Romney said on the “Kilmeade & Friends” radio program.

The Hill article adds:

Romney said Thursday he didn’t remember the prank, and that fellow students’ sexual orientation was not something he considered in high school.

“I don’t remember that incident and I certainly don’t believe I or — I can’t speak for other people, of course — thought he was homosexual. That was the furthest thing from my mind back in the 1960s, so that was not the case. But as to pranks that were played back then … I did stupid things, and I’m afraid I have to say sorry for it,” Romney said.

Romney is also depicted in the story as mocking a closeted gay student in class by yelling “atta’girl” when the student would speak up in class.

“I really can’t remember that,” Romney said. “There are a lot of times in a boys’ school where other boys do something and people say ‘atta’girl.’ But as this person indicated, he was closeted, I had no idea that he was gay and can’t speak to that even today. But as to the teasing and the taunts that go on in high school, that’s a long time ago — for me it’s 48 years ago. Again, if there’s anything I said that was offensive to anyone, I certainly am sorry for that, very deeply sorry about that. No harm intended.”

Romney went on to talk about how he had grown and changed once meeting his wife, Ann, and said he “became a very different person.”

“I’m a very different person than I was in high school. I’m glad I learned as much as I did during those high school years … but I can tell you I’m quite a different guy now,” Romney said.

Romney then attempted to pivot to the economy, arguing that a discussion of how to fix the ailing economy was more important than his high school “hijinks.”

Romney’s “if there’s anything I said that was offensive to anyone, I certainly am sorry for that, very deeply sorry about that. No harm intended,” response is boilerplate claptrap. And ignores the victim of his reported physical assault, who died in 2004.

No one should attempt to minimize gay-bashing, whether it occurred in 1965 or 2005. (The Hill article’s title offensively classifies Romney’s actions as “pranks.”) Yes, Romney may be “a very different person” today. But someone who attempts to minimize serious actions — pinning a minor down and forcibly cutting off his hair is easily assault in any jurisdiction in any decade, one would have to think — by calling them “hijinks” and saying they were “dumb things,” demonstrates they just don’t get it.

And why should anyone think Romney does get it? Not only does he not support the right of same-sex couples to marry — consistent with only half of the American populace, at most — but he does not support the right of same-sex couples to even enter into civil unions, a position so extreme it’s doubtful even one in four Americans share that position.

Yesterday, after President Obama announced his support of same-sex marriage, the political punditry class went into calculation mode. I’ll repeat what I said then. Issues like same-sex marriage, and now, gay-bashing, aren’t about policy and they’re not about politics, they’re about people.

Image: Mitt Romney Senior Photo 1965, courtesy Cranbrook Schools

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Why Are One in Five GOP Voters Still Voting for Nikki Haley Over Donald Trump?

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May 15, 2024

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Sixty-nine days after she suspended her presidential campaign, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is still drawing a consistent one in five Republican primary voters away from the indicted ex-president Donald Trump.

Tuesday’s primaries in Maryland, Nebraska, and West Virginia continued that trend, even though she has been nearly totally silent and even though Trump has already gained enough delegates to be the presumptive Republican nominee.

In Maryland Tuesday night, 47,597 GOP voters chose Haley over Trump, for a solid 20% of the vote. In Nebraska, Haley walked away with ⁦36,872 votes, 17.9% of the total. And in West Virginia, she took 21,123 votes, although that was just 9.4%. (All vote totals and percentages are from the Associated Press via Google and are current as of time of publication.)

All three primaries were “closed,” meaning open only to register Republican voters (Maryland and Nebraska) or registered Republicans and independents (West Virginia).

One week ago in Indiana the results were strikingly similar. 128,170 Indiana GOP primary voters – 21.7% – cast their ballot for the former South Carolina governor instead of the presumptive Republican nominee.

READ MORE: ‘Mouths of Sauron’: Critics Blast ‘Mobster Tactic’ of Trump Surrogates ‘Violating’ Gag Order

“Unexpected warning signs for Trump in busy Indiana primary,” Politico reported last week, noting, “Nikki Haley’s performance in the already concluded presidential race could be a sign of trouble for Trump in more competitive states.”

Overnight, Politico reported, “Nikki Haley’s zombie presidential candidacy is still drawing a sizable slice of the Republican vote in the suburbs,” in what it deems “Warning signs for Trump.”

“Donald Trump showed weakness in the suburbs in Tuesday’s primaries, while Joe Biden’s problem with the protest vote appeared to fade,” the news outlet noted. “It’s been a paradox for Democrats fretting about Biden’s standing in the polls: Republicans are more likely to say they’ll vote for Trump in general-election polling than Democrats are for Biden, but there are more protest votes in the primaries against Trump.”

On Monday, before Tuesday primaries, Obama 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina summed it up: “Trump is failing to expand beyond hardcore MAGA base.”

Pointing to Haley’s 20%, Lisa Quigley, who spent more than a quarter century as chief of staff to two Democratic U.S. Congressmen, observed: “These are highly engaged voters, who showed up in a primary, to vote for someone who was going to lose. They did it anyway. This is happening everywhere. They are key to victory in Nov.”

Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen, as far back as March, also pointed to Haley voters as the key to Biden winning re-election.

READ MORE: Johnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’

“Nikki Haley won 2.9 million votes in the primary so far. Our Fox News voter analysis shows that somewhere between five in ten and six in ten of those Nikki Haley voters said they won’t vote for Trump in November,” Thiessen said, Newsweek reported. “If even a fraction of those voters deliver on that promise and stay home or vote third party or just split their votes or something, Trump loses.”

Meanwhile, Haley has barely broken her near-total silence, and has not endorsed Donald Trump.

“During a private, two-day donor retreat in Charleston, South Carolina, the former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador thanked a group of around 100 donors and her team gave a presentation on her campaign’s fundraising and strategy,” Politico also reported Wednesday. More importantly, Haley has not endorsed Trump nor offered the presumptive nominee any support – including her donor network.

 

 

 

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‘Terrific’: Trump Defends Kristi Noem After Shooting Her Dog to Death

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20 hours ago

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May 14, 2024

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Donald Trump came to the aid of embattled Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, whose story about shooting to death her 14-month old German wirehaired pointer named Cricket has been denounced by Americans on the left and right for weeks.

Gov. Noem not only chose to put the story in her memoir, but has repeatedly defended her decision to drag the dog into a gravel pit and shoot her, killing her with one bullet without even warning her child, who asked when they returned home from school, “Where’s Cricket?”

Trump, speaking Tuesday on “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show,” the successor to the late Rush Limbaugh’s talk radio program, did not appear to have a full grasp of the story or the massive outrage and upset Gov. Noem caused.

“I’m sure you’ve seen some of the Kristi Noem story. She might be the only person getting worse press than you on the left right now with the dog shooting story,” Clay Travis told Trump. “Is she still in the mix as a VP? Have you thought maybe she’d make more sense in a cabinet? How do you analyze stories like that as you go about making a choice?”

READ MORE: Johnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’

Noem, until the dog shooting story came out, was widely believed to be on Trump’s short list as a vice presidential running mate.

“Well, until this week, she was doing incredibly well and she got hit hard, and sometimes you do books and you have some guy writing a book and you maybe don’t read it as carefully,” Trump offered as a defense of the governor whose dog-shooting story came out weeks ago. “You know, you have ghost writers, do they help you? And they this case didn’t help too much.”

“Now, she’s terrific,” Trump continued, lavishing praise on Noem. “Look, she’s been a supporter of mine from day one. She did a great job of governor, as governor. And you know, you look at South Dakota numbers. She’s really done a great job.”

Trump did not say what numbers specifically, nor did he say on what Governor Noem did a great job. he also did not answer the question Travis posed about North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, nor did he bring up any of the other controversies surrounding the book.

“And in some form, I mean, I think I think she’s terrific. A couple of rough stories. There’s no question about it. And when explained the dog story, you know, people, people hear that and people from different parts of the country probably feel a little bit differently, but that’s a tough story. And, but she’s a terrific person. She said she had a bad, she had a bad week.”

Watch below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Mouths of Sauron’: Critics Blast ‘Mobster Tactic’ of Trump Surrogates ‘Violating’ Gag Order

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‘Mouths of Sauron’: Critics Blast ‘Mobster Tactic’ of Trump Surrogates ‘Violating’ Gag Order

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23 hours ago

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May 14, 2024

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In his remarks outside the courtroom Tuesday, Donald Trump demanded Judge Juan Merchan rescind the tailored gag order placed on him that was designed to ensure the sanctity of the trial and the safety of witnesses, jurors, court staff, and their families.

“The gag order has to come off,” Trump told reporters Tuesday morning, adding his frequent “never been anything like this in the history of our country” claim.

Judge Merchan just last week reportedly cited Trump’s own words from his own book when defending his decision to keep the gag order in place and not modify it.

“When you are wronged, go after those people, because it is a good feeling and because other people will see you doing it. Getting even is not always a personal thing. It’s just part of doing business,” Trump’s book passage reads.

But as The Washington Post reported Monday, Trump’s surrogates are saying “the forbidden stuff for him.” They “have helpfully stepped forward to offer a timely and convenient service: lodging those same attacks, while appearing at the trial in support of him.”

READ MORE: Trump Wails His Judge Was Appointed by ‘Democrat Politicians’ – That’s False

“Republican lawmakers have appeared at Trump’s trial — even entering and exiting the courtroom with him — and proceeded to say precisely the kinds of things he’s not allowed to.”

Because the “kinds of things he’s not allowed to” say violate the gag order.

Politico reports, “Trump’s surrogates continue launching verbal attacks that would violate gag order if Trump said them himself.”

But according to the text of Trump’s gag order, he is “directed to refrain from”:

“Making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding; Making or directing others to make public statements” about attorneys “in the case other than the District Attorney,” “members of the court’s staff and the District Attorney’s staff, or the family members of any counsel or staff member” or “any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding.”

The prosecution has not indicated it will, but it could ask the judge to examine the “directing others to make public statements” portion of the gag order.

On Tuesday, one of the most powerful elected Republicans in the country, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, became the most high-profile Trump surrogate on the planet.

RELATED: ‘Campaigning for Trump at His Criminal Trial’: Johnson Blasted for Going to NYC Courthouse

Critics are blasting Speaker Johnson, who is second in line to the presidency, for attending the trial Tuesday and for delivering remarks some are calling false, in support of the indicted ex-president and 2024 GOP presumptive nominee.

“When asked for his worldview when Mike Johnson became Speaker of the House and nobody knew anything about him he said, ‘you want to know my worldview? Go read the bible, that’s what I stand for,'” MSNBC’s Willie Geist said Tuesday. “And now today he’s at the courthouse defending the guy who’s on trial for allegedly paying off a porn star for the alleged affair he had while his wife was home with their infant son.”

Johnson and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) are among those who went and said what the judge told Trump he could not.

Johnson strongly defended Trump Tuesday morning. And following the Trump playbook, he attacked the prosecutor, the judge, and the judge’s daughter, which could be deemed a violation of Judge Merchan’s gag order against Trump if he decides Johnson’s remarks came at Trump’s request.

Award-winning journalist Laura Bassett, the former editor-in-chief of Jezebel, responded to that video, writing, “The guy who admitted that he and his son monitor each other’s porn intake is out here publicly lying on behalf of a man who cheated on his wife with a porn star and paid to cover it up.”

Calling it “Craven,” and “lawless,” Bloomberg Opinion Senior Executive Editor Tim O’Brien remarked, “House Speaker Mike Johnson is outside the NY courthouse right now and essentially helping Trump sidestep the court’s gag order by acting as his proxy by attacking the integrity of the trial and judicial process. He’s even targeting Justice Merchan’s daughter.”

READ MORE: Johnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’

Congressman Donalds, who is on the short list to become Trump’s vice presidential running mate, also attacked the judge’s daughter on Tuesday, from outside the courthouse.

Political commentator Bob Cesca observed, “If you’re wondering why Vance, Tuberville, and Johnson are there, it’s because of the gag order. They’re Trump’s voice. The Mouths of Sauron,” he wrote, referring to the near-entirely evil creature from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.”

“BTW, asking surrogates to attack witnesses and the judge’s daughter is a violation of the gag order,” he added.

Former Denver Chief Deputy District Attorney Craig Silverman remarked, “Note how Trump gets Vance and Johnson to violate the gag order for him. Mobster tactic. Make your Trump champions violate the law right along with you. Once they are in for a dime, they are in for a dollar and stuck with MAGA.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

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