Romney Apologizes For Bullying In Prep School, Says He Didn't Know Victim Was Gay
Romney Apologizes For Bullying In Prep School, Says He Didn't Know Victim Was Gay
WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney made a surprise appearance on Fox host Brian Kilmeade's radio show Thursday morning to respond to a lengthy Washington Post story on his time as a prep-school prankster and occasional bully of closeted gay students.
"They talk about the fact that I played a lot of pranks in high school," Romney said. "And they describe some that you just say to yourself, back in high school I just did some dumb things and if anybody was hurt by that or offended by it, obviously I apologize."
"I participated in a lot of hijinks and pranks during high school and some might have gone too far and for that, I apologize," he added.
It's never quite clear whether a politician's high school years are fair game for political attacks. Romney suggested during the interview that the acts he was apologizing for were merely youthful indiscretions; the Post described him pinning a closeted gay classmate to the ground and cutting his long hair, for example. But with the story suggesting latent homophobia in an adolescent Romney and with President Barack Obama having endorsed same-sex marriage on Wednesday, the piece reverberated.
Still, Romney said he was "not going to be too concerned" about the item. He insisted that he grew up in a tolerant environment and that there was nothing about his pranks that were discriminatory towards gays.
LISTEN:
"The people involved didn't come out of the closet until years later," he noted. "The idea that this is something that was known by me ... is obviously absurd. I had no idea that this person might have been gay."
"I don't remember that incident and I'll tell you I certainly don't believe that I, I can't speak for other people of course, thought the fellow was homosexual," he said earlier in the interview. "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 don't remember them all, but again, high school days, if I did stupid things, why I'm afraid I got to say sorry for it."
The idea that Romney, as the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, holds the same mindset now as he did in his prep school days is, of course, absurd. People change, including Obama who had, until Wednesday, spent several years in public life opposing same-sex marriage.
But the Post piece still presents problems for the former Massachusetts governor, in part because of the brutish context it provides for his policy platforms. Earlier in the day, his campaign adviser Ed Gillespie said that Romney would be campaigning on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. The night before, Romney himself grew testy with a reporter who asked him about his opposition to civil unions.
Clearly, social issues are posing a problem for Romney, and that was exemplified by the uncomfortable laughs that punctuated his responses as he discussed his behavior with Kilmeade.
The guys that were ALSO involved in the assault SAID WE ATTACKED HIM BECAUSE WE THOUGHT HE WAS GAY.....umm...HATE CRIME
Quoting DSamuels:
Quoting sweet-a-kins:
1) a violent physical assualt (and possible a hate crime) matter to me
Back then there were very few people out of the closet, especially in high school. You are really reaching on the "hate crime"
2) Obama is raked for things that he did when he was 6....so how is this "off the table"?
3) the fact that he down played the bullying and assault NOW says a lot about HIM...
4) all Presidents and candidates were questioned about their high school, college and working years
Obama had ALL his records SEALED before the election in 2008. NOT a THING has been unsealed. We have absolutely no idea about how or what he did.
Quoting sarebear31976:
man I hate it when I have to agree with people I normally don't, but SAK this whole post is ridiculous. Who cares? Romney got in a fight with a hippie, Obama can't find his senior paper, Romney said a bad word in 2002, Obama ate a dog. None of which has any bearing on this election.
But first he has to open his records and show all his papers he wrote in school and his grades. Even to be able to talk to his ex-girlfriends.
NOW that is funny how Obama go'es out of his way to hide his past.
The bare bones of this non-story: From Townhall.com ......
Betsy Lauber, one of John Lauber’s three sisters, spoke with ABC News Tuesday night regarding the accuracy of the story.
“The family of John Lauber is releasing a statement saying the portrayal of John is factually incorrect and we are aggrieved that he would be used to further a political agenda. There will be no more comments from the family,” she said.
“Even if it did happen, John probably wouldn’t have said anything,” Christine Lauber said.
(...)
“If he were still alive today, he would be furious [about the story],” she said with tears in her eyes.
This is my problem the the family's statement. Gay teens rarely, if ever, tell their familiars about the things they go through. Those families, especially from this time period, are often not supportive and not someone that the teen would confide with. I am not saying that is this family in particular, but by their own admission, they were not that close then. His family may not be the best source for how this person felt about what happened to him or what he was going through.
Quoting Jambo4:The bare bones of this non-story: From Townhall.com ......
The sisters of the boy Mitt Romney allegedly bullied in high school isn't happy that their brother's name is in the news. In fact, prior to the Washington Post's story about Romney's prep school antics, the women didn't even know about the incident. Instead of jumping on the Mitt's-a-bully bandwagon, however, they want their brother's memory out of the fray. Turns out, WaPo [Washington Post] got some of their facts wrong, and besides, say his sisters, he wouldn't want to be used as a political pawn anyway.Betsy Lauber, one of John Lauber’s three sisters, spoke with ABC News Tuesday night regarding the accuracy of the story.
“The family of John Lauber is releasing a statement saying the portrayal of John is factually incorrect and we are aggrieved that he would be used to further a political agenda. There will be no more comments from the family,” she said.
“Even if it did happen, John probably wouldn’t have said anything,” Christine Lauber said.
(...)
“If he were still alive today, he would be furious [about the story],” she said with tears in her eyes.The story has already come under scrutiny for misleading information, but this statement from the family seals it: the Post published a shoddy hit-piece designed to make Romney look bad in the wake of Obama's gay marriage endorsement. Now, as Romney himself said, "Aren't there issues of significance you'd like to talk about?"
Nice Widdle Puppy
This whole "Romney the Bully" thing just came to my attention so, yes, I'm late (as usual).
I what little there was out there and find myself thinking that Romney missed out on a pretty good opportunity to address something that a large portion of the American population is concerned about. Bullying in school. What is the precent? Something like 70% of people have been victims of bullying while they were in school?
Romney could have said something like, "Yes, I was a terrible prankster in school and did, upon occasion, engage in some pranks that were probably hurtful of others. Of course I feel bad about it now, I was an immature jerk. I'm not proud of my actions. I'd like to think that those experiences helped me realize what kind of impact a person can make on another. That's why I've since tried to make a positive impact on those around me by x, y, z."
Instead he blew it off with an air of "kids being kids". I'm sorry, this bothers me. If his antics were ones involving unkind words, super gluing a locker shut, or some other such nonsense I (personally) would have less issue with it. After all, kids are cruel and go through a stage where they are truly awful and it sucks if you are on the wrong side of that.
But he doesn't take any responsibility for his actions back then and hides behind the excuse of, "I don't remember." Considering the nature of his "pranks", most of which seemed to involve physical action against someone else, I don't think forgetfulness rings true. Even if he doesn't recall all the details, you can't tell me he doesn't remember anything. I find that disturbing and it isn't what I would expect from any adult, let alone one that wants to be our president and institute much of his own beliefs into our constitution.
Yet the thing is Romney did admit to pranks, he did say some of them might have gone too far, and he did apologize for any hurt he caused. It's weird to me how people seem to criticize one half of what he says without acknowledging the other half.
Quoting KhaysJadie:
This whole "Romney the Bully" thing just came to my attention so, yes, I'm late (as usual).
I what little there was out there and find myself thinking that Romney missed out on a pretty good opportunity to address something that a large portion of the American population is concerned about. Bullying in school. What is the precent? Something like 70% of people have been victims of bullying while they were in school?
Romney could have said something like, "Yes, I was a terrible prankster in school and did, upon occasion, engage in some pranks that were probably hurtful of others. Of course I feel bad about it now, I was an immature jerk. I'm not proud of my actions. I'd like to think that those experiences helped me realize what kind of impact a person can make on another. That's why I've since tried to make a positive impact on those around me by x, y, z."
Instead he blew it off with an air of "kids being kids". I'm sorry, this bothers me. If his antics were ones involving unkind words, super gluing a locker shut, or some other such nonsense I (personally) would have less issue with it. After all, kids are cruel and go through a stage where they are truly awful and it sucks if you are on the wrong side of that.
But he doesn't take any responsibility for his actions back then and hides behind the excuse of, "I don't remember." Considering the nature of his "pranks", most of which seemed to involve physical action against someone else, I don't think forgetfulness rings true. Even if he doesn't recall all the details, you can't tell me he doesn't remember anything. I find that disturbing and it isn't what I would expect from any adult, let alone one that wants to be our president and institute much of his own beliefs into our constitution.
"We have a moral responsibility to not spend more than we take in." -Mitt Romney 2012
Seems to be getting overlooked. :-(
Quoting Jambo4:
The bare bones of this non-story: From Townhall.com ......
The sisters of the boy Mitt Romney allegedly bullied in high school isn't happy that their brother's name is in the news. In fact, prior to the Washington Post's story about Romney's prep school antics, the women didn't even know about the incident. Instead of jumping on the Mitt's-a-bully bandwagon, however, they want their brother's memory out of the fray. Turns out, WaPo [Washington Post] got some of their facts wrong, and besides, say his sisters, he wouldn't want to be used as a political pawn anyway.Betsy Lauber, one of John Lauber’s three sisters, spoke with ABC News Tuesday night regarding the accuracy of the story.
“The family of John Lauber is releasing a statement saying the portrayal of John is factually incorrect and we are aggrieved that he would be used to further a political agenda. There will be no more comments from the family,” she said.
“Even if it did happen, John probably wouldn’t have said anything,” Christine Lauber said.
(...)
“If he were still alive today, he would be furious [about the story],” she said with tears in her eyes.The story has already come under scrutiny for misleading information, but this statement from the family seals it: the Post published a shoddy hit-piece designed to make Romney look bad in the wake of Obama's gay marriage endorsement. Now, as Romney himself said, "Aren't there issues of significance you'd like to talk about?"
In reply to Meadowchik and imamomzilla (I don't know how to quote multiple posts so this will have to do.)
Romney's apology..."They talk about the fact that I played a lot of pranks in high school," Romney said. "And they describe some that you just say to yourself, back in high school I just did some dumb things and if anybody was hurt by that or offended by it, obviously I apologize."
Let us just be clear from the start. I'm looking at this through the lense of my own life and experiences and that does shape my opinion on this. His apology, if said differently, would have sounded sincere and touched many people. This apology that he offers doesn't come off (to me) as being anything other than, "Yeah, of course I apologize, I'm an adult but I still don't see much wrong in being a jerky kid."
As I tried to point out before, he could have approached this as a one-two political punch. He could have said, "I did some terrible pranks in my past. Some of which were hurtful to other people and I am sorry for that. I can't change the past, the least I can offer those affected by actions back then is a heartfelt apology." That would have said some really good things about his character and been good politics to boot. Every person who has ever been bullied could have looked at that and thought, "He's talking to me." The kids who engaged in bullying in their youths might not recall every instance or remember the faces of those they touched, but you can bet those kids on the receiving end do.
Imamomzilla: I saw you post. Respectfully, I am going to take it with a grain of salt as the family itself may know little of the actual incident. I, also, wasn't replying directly to the haircutting thing but to that and the other incidents Romney is said to have engaged in like walking a blind teacher into a wall.
Quoting KhaysJadie:This whole "Romney the Bully" thing just came to my attention so, yes, I'm late (as usual).
I what little there was out there and find myself thinking that Romney missed out on a pretty good opportunity to address something that a large portion of the American population is concerned about. Bullying in school. What is the precent? Something like 70% of people have been victims of bullying while they were in school?
Romney could have said something like, "Yes, I was a terrible prankster in school and did, upon occasion, engage in some pranks that were probably hurtful of others. Of course I feel bad about it now, I was an immature jerk. I'm not proud of my actions. I'd like to think that those experiences helped me realize what kind of impact a person can make on another. That's why I've since tried to make a positive impact on those around me by x, y, z."
Instead he blew it off with an air of "kids being kids". I'm sorry, this bothers me. If his antics were ones involving unkind words, super gluing a locker shut, or some other such nonsense I (personally) would have less issue with it. After all, kids are cruel and go through a stage where they are truly awful and it sucks if you are on the wrong side of that.
But he doesn't take any responsibility for his actions back then and hides behind the excuse of, "I don't remember." Considering the nature of his "pranks", most of which seemed to involve physical action against someone else, I don't think forgetfulness rings true. Even if he doesn't recall all the details, you can't tell me he doesn't remember anything. I find that disturbing ?? and it isn't what I would expect from any adult, let alone one that wants to be our president and institute much of his own beliefs into our constitution.
uh... I've read his statements and he did say he was sorry as well as listened to the following. I think that's great that he apologized for an incident he didn't even remember doing, multiple times (at least in the phone interview) He used the wrong words? He didn't use your words? Anyway.. I see what you are saying about the addressing the bullying part. He could have said more but I think the focus was more on the gay-baiting issue that the opposition was trying to portray him at so he was more concerned about addressing that.
But here's some of his apologetic words: . Back in high school, I did some dumb things and if anybody was hurt by that or offended, obviously I apologize for that,” Mr. Romney told Brian Kilmeade, a radio host. Mr. Romney added, “I participated in a lot of high jinks and pranks during high school and some might have gone too far and for that, I apologize.”
Sorry, Republicans — Nobody’s Getting Impeached
- sweet-a-kins
on May. 10, 2012 at 12:30 PM