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| Mitt Romney fumbles overseas. |
Hence forth, four years later, one Republican nominee. The presumptive nominee, the perennial candidate for president, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney goes overseas.
Mitt Romney is going to show off his foreign relation skills. He is to go to Israel, the United Kingdom and Poland. Each holding a conservative leader.
His first trip to the United Kingdom as a nominee was bad. Really bad. He practically handed President Barack Obama another opening. As a vulnerable president, Obama is hoping that Romney will implode so badly, the Republicans will lose enthusiasm towards him. The Guardian has reported that many leaders in the United Kingdom were sort of disappointed with Mitt Romney.
Off the cuff, Romney complained the people of London weren't prepared for the 2012 Summer Olympics. That comment landed at the mayor's desk. Boris Johnson, the mayor of 8.3 million shot back at the Republican candidate. He spoke before a crowd of 60,000 in Hyde Park. "There is a guy called Mitt Romney who wants to know if we are ready. Yes, we are," he declared.
He screwed up so bad, the United Kingdom's Conservative Party and the party's leader Prime Minister David Cameron were a bit unease with the nominee. Prime Minister David Cameron wasted no time in rebuking Romney hours after his remarks were broadcast. On a visit to the Olympic Park, the prime minister said: "We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities in the world. Of course it's easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere."
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| Mitt Romney with Prime Minister David Cameron, the UK Conservative Party's national leader. |
Romney went off and blabbed about his visit at the Secret Foreign Intelligence Service (MI6) and apparently its against protocol and national security. The U.K. Secret Foreign Intelligence Service whose existence was only acknowledged by the British government in 1994 remained confidential until Mitt Romney told the press the meeting. Such conversations are not normally discussed publicly by government leaders.
"I can only say that I appreciated the insights and the perspectives of the leaders of the government here and opposition here as well as the head of MI6 as we discussed Syria and hoped for a more peaceful future for that country," he said.
Romney also seemed to make his political digs at President Barack Obama personal. According to the Huffington Post, Romney broke the longstanding rule for U.S. politicians not to criticize the president overseas. At a fundraiser for American expats, he reportedly said, "I'm looking forward to the bust of Winston Churchill being in the Oval Office again," referring to the White House returning the artwork to the British Embassy in early 2009. President Barack Obama replaced it with a bust of Abraham Lincoln.
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| London mayor Boris Johnson works the crowd attending the pre-ceremonial Olympic games. Johnson jabs Romney over his remarks of London not being prepared for the Summer Games. |
Romney also met Ed Miliband, the leader of the opposition Labour party. Miliband took questions from two reporters from what he called "my side", but Romney would not take questions from US journalists. At one point, Romney called Miliband "Mr Leader", which prompted suggestions he had forgotten Miliband's name.
There were also meetings with foreign secretary William Hague, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and former PM Tony Blair.
His campaign team claimed the event took $2 million in political donations, but there were reports earlier that ticket prices had been lowered, and that some people had been offered free passes.
I would say this isn't going to please his conservative allies. They'll hope the controversy will go away when the July job report numbers show little to no growth in the United States economy.
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