Romney repeats sharp criticism of Obama after Benghazi, Cairo attacks
By Philip Rucker, Updated: Wednesday, September 12, 1:42 PM
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Wednesday strongly defended his criticism of the Obama administration after attacks on U.S. diplomatic compounds in Egypt and Libya, charging that a statement issued by the American Embassy in Cairo amounted to “an apology for American principles.”
Romney accused the Obama administration Tuesday night of sympathizing with the protesters who attacked the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.
Responding to the criticism, President Obama said Wednesday that Romney has a predilection for making rash statements.
In excerpts of an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” that were aired by CBS News, Obama said: “There’s a broader lesson to be learned here.... Governor Romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later. And as president, one of the things I’ve learned is you can’t do that.” Obama said it was important “to make sure that the statements that you make are backed up by the facts, and that you’ve thought through the ramifications before you make them.”
Asked whether he thought Romney’s attacks were “irresponsible,” Obama replied, “I’ll let the American people judge that.”
At the time of Romney’s statement Tuesday night, U.S. officials had confirmed that one American had been killed in Benghazi. Wednesday morning, the White House announced that Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were dead.
But the embassy statement that Romney was criticizing was issued before the protests in Egypt and before the Benghazi attack. The statement — apparently a response to outrage in Egypt over an anti-Muslim film made in California, excerpts of which are circulating on the Internet — said: “The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions.”
After the grounds of the Cairo embassy compound were breached, the embassy tweeted, “This morning’s condemnation (issued before protest began) still stands.”
By reiterating the conciliatory message on Twitter, Romney said, the embassy was in effect “sympathizing with those who had breached our embassy in Egypt instead of condemning their actions.”
“I think it’s a terrible course for America to stand in apology for our values,” Romney said, addressing reporters at his campaign office in Jacksonville. “An apology for America’s values is never the right course.”
Romney appeared to take special care with his comments, looking down frequently at his notes and pausing at times as he delivered his remarks. He did not back down, despite strong criticism leveled at him for slamming the Obama administration Tuesday night even as events overseas were still unfolding.
“We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack,” Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said.
But Romney stood by the tone and timing of his initial statement.
“I don’t think that we ever hesitate when we see something which is a violation of our principles,” Romney said. “We express immediately when we feel that the president and his administration have done something which is inconsistent with the principles of America.”
He said Obama should be held responsible for statements issued at U.S. embassies and government outposts around the world.
Many other Republicans — including Romney’s vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) — took a different tack, issuing conciliatory statements on Wednesday that did not criticize the Obama administration.
“This is a time for healing. It’s a time for resolve,” Ryan said during a campaign stop in De Pere, Wisconsin. “In the face of such a tragedy, we are reminded that the world needs American leadership, and the best guarantee of peace is American strength.”
Former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, who is close to the Romney campaign, said she was “saddened by the tragic loss of life at our Consulate in Benghazi.... Ambassador Chris Stevens was a wonderful officer and a terrific diplomat who was dedicated to the cause of freedom. His service in the Middle East throughout his career was legendary.”
Even Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) — who regularly critique the Obama administration’s foreign policy — urged Obama to continue supporting democracy efforts in Libya and Egypt.
“We cannot give in to the temptation to believe that our support for the democratic aspirations of people in Libya, Egypt, and elsewhere in the broader Middle East is naive or mistaken,” the senators said in a joint statement. “We cannot resign ourselves to the false belief that the Arab Spring is doomed to be defined not by the desire for democracy and freedom that has inspired millions of people to peaceful action, but by the dark fanaticism of terrorists.”
Romney’s responses to the attacks came under sharp criticism from strategists and analysts on both sides of the political spectrum.
Matthew Dowd, a Republican former top strategist for President George W. Bush, said Romney overreacted to the news at a moment of crisis when Americans are looking for tempered political discourse and steady leadership.
“It’s just a huge mistake on the Romney campaign’s part — huge mistake,” Dowd said in an interview. Asked whether Romney could fix it, Dowd said he could not. “The only thing that can fix it is if he gets on another issue other than foreign policy.”
Dowd said Romney’s response would appeal to the right-wing fringe of the Republican base but would turn off independent swing voters. “It almost feels like Sarah Palin is his foreign policy adviser,” he added.
“People trust Obama on foreign policy, and he’s demonstrated an ability to get that right. And with that measurement, Obama versus Romney, it’s not good for Mitt Romney,” Dowd said. “And you put this in conjunction with the things he said about the Olympics and his statements overseas, it builds a story in people’s minds — does this guy have the temperament, and can we really trust this guy to lead in the world? This was an opportunity to show some measured reaction, and he did the opposite.”
Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a telephone interview: “I think Mitt Romney is very sad, what he did last night.... There ought to be some limit to politics. There ought to be some limits to ambition and trying to exploit every opportunity.”
Kerry said that attacking the Obama administration “before you even know what the true story is, before you know what’s happened,” demonstrated “a level of political recklessness and expediency that I think defies America’s interest.”
As the gravity of the unfolding situation overseas became clear Wednesday morning, Romney’s aides scrambled to change the optics of his campaign stop here, at his campaign office in a Jacksonville strip mall next door to a Blazin Reptiles Pet Shop.
Roughly 150 supporters had assembled in the Romney office expecting a small rally. Volunteers sat at phone bank tables, supporters held up campaign signs that read, “Florida Loves Mitt,” and shiny patriotic bunting lined the walls. There were two cardboard life-size cut-outs of Romney in the back of the room.
But about 30 minutes before Romney arrived, aides quickly transformed the room into a setting more suitable for a formal news conference. They collected signs from supporters and removed them, and erected a blue curtain backdrop that covered up the patriotic bunting. Four American flags were posted behind the wooden podium where Romney would speak.
Aides escorted Romney supporters outside to wait on the sidewalk outside and in the parking lot. Dozens of supporters pressed their faces against the storefront windows to watch Romney, dressed in a dark suit, crisp white shirt and blue tie, deliver his remarks.
“Americans woke up this morning with tragic news and felt heavy hearts as they considered that individuals that served in our diplomatic corps were brutally murdered across the world,” Romney said. “This attack on American individuals and embassies is outrageous. It’s disgusting. It breaks the hearts of all of us.”
After Romney finished taking questions, supporters were allowed back in for an informal meet-and-greet with the candidate, who took off his jacket to shake hands with volunteers.
“Florida could decide,” Romney told some of them. “We’re looking for you to get the job done. I just want to say hi and shake a couple of hands.”
Wilgoren reported from Washington. Ed O’Keefe in Washington contributed to this report.
