Interview - Romney Defeated Romney

Thank you for agreeing to speak with us.  We have refreshments.

Romney:  "I'm not sure about these cookies. They don't look like you made them. No, no. They came from the local 7/11 bakery, or whatever." —Mitt Romney, visiting a local bakery while campaigning in Pittsburgh, PA, April 17, 2012 (The owner of the baker later told MSNBC he was offended by Romney's remarks.)

Interviewer:  Do you recall getting your name wrong during introductions?  "I'm Wolf Blitzer and yes, that's my real name." —CNN's Wolf Blitzer at the beginning of a November 2011 Republican presidential debate   "I'm Mitt Romney—and yes Wolf, that's also my first name." —Mitt Romney, getting his own name wrong.  (Full name: Willard Mitt Romney, Mitt is his middle name.)

Romney:  "I'm not familiar precisely with what I said, but I'll stand by what I said, whatever it was."  (May 17, 2012)

Interviewer:  It’s days after election.

                                                      

Romney:  “I could have possibly beaten Senator McCain in the primary. Then I could have been the candidate who lost to Barack Obama.” – Mitt Romney 

Interviewer:  How do you feel about President Obama?

Romney:  "We have a president, who I think is a nice guy, but he spent too much time at Harvard, perhaps." —Mitt Romney, who has two Harvard degrees (April 5, 2012)


"My dad used to say, 'Being right early is not good in politics.' And in a setting like this, a highly intellectual subject, discussion on a whole series of important topics typically doesn't win elections. And there are, there are, there are, for instance, this president won because of "hope and change."

"He [Obama] says we need more firemen, more policemen, and more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It's time for us to cut back on government and help the American people." —Mitt Romney at a campaign event in Council Bluffs, Iowa, June 8, 2012

Interviewer:  What would you have done?

Romney:  "As president, I will create 12 million new jobs." —Mitt Romney, during the second presidential debate. "Government does not create jobs. Government does not create jobs." —Mitt Romney, 45 minutes later (Oct. 16, 2012) 

Interviewer:  Isn't the president part of government? Forward!

Romney: "I want to taste this by the way. Let me show you how it's done: You take this (holds up a forkful of food) with your fork (puts food in mouth) and you put it in (laughter). That's good."

Interviewer:  Why aren't you president?

Romney:  "And because they voted for him (Obama), they don't want to be told that they were wrong, that he's a bad guy, that he did bad things, that he's corrupt. Those people that we have to get, they want to believe they did the right thing, but he just wasn't up to the task.

"They love the phrase that he's "over his head." But if we're -- but we, but you see, you and I, we spend our day with Republicans. We spend our days with people who agree with us. And these people are people who voted for him and don't agree with us. And so the things that animate us are not the things that animate them."

Interviewer:  While you were running for office were illegals working for you?

Romney:   "I'm running for office for Pete's sake, we can't have illegals" –Mitt Romney, recalling his reaction when he learned that there were illegal aliens working the ground on his property, employed by a firm that he subsequently fired (October 2011)

"I like being able to fire people who provide services to me." –Mitt Romney

"I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there." —Mitt Romney (January 2012)

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. ... My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives." -Mitt Romney, in leaked comments from a fundraiser in May 2012

Interviewer:  Would you say that now with all the people homeless from Hurricane Sandy?

Romney:  "I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that's the America millions of Americans believe in. That's the America I love." –Mitt Romney (January 2012)

Interviewer:  What are you thinking?

Romney:  "Tomorrow we begin a new tomorrow." –Mitt Romney on his final day of campaigning, Nov. 5, 2012

Interviewer:  What comment do you regret?

Romney:  “I’m sorry Jim, I’m gonna stop the subsidy to PBS,” I told debate moderator Jim Lehrer, who is executive editor for PBS NewsHour. “I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you, too."

Interviewer: Why would you fire Big Bird? You have 18 grandchildren, but they don't depend on public television.   Raw Video: Romney says good bye to Big Bird

Interviewer:  OK, what are your plans for the future?

Romney:  "I should tell my story. I'm also unemployed." —Mitt Romney, speaking in 2011 to unemployed people in Florida. Romney's net worth is over $200 million.

"There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip" –Mitt Romney, attempting to identify with the problems of average folk (January 2012)

"I get speaker's fees from time to time, but not very much." —Mitt Romney, who earned $374,000 in speaking fees in one year according to his personal financial disclosure (January 2012)

Interviewer:  George Stephanopoulos asked you, "Is $100,000 middle income?" – Mr. Romney you replied, “No, middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less." -Mitt Romney, ABC's "Good Morning America," Sept. 14, 2012  So you earn more in speaking engagements than what you consider a middle class individual.

Romney:  "I think the best answer is as little as possible." –Mitt Romney  interview with ABC's "LIVE! with Kelly and Michael," Sept. 14, 2012

Interviewer:  Have you ever forgotten to mention important people in your speeches?

Romney:  "When you give a speech you don't go through a laundry list, you talk about the things that you think are important." –Mitt Romney, when asked about failing to mention the troops in his nomination speech at the Republican National Convention, Fox News interview (Sept. 7, 2012)

Interviewer:  Did you write, “a New York Times op-ed in 2008 titled "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt," in which he said if GM, Ford and Chrysler got a government bailout "you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye"?

Romney:  "I love this state. The trees are the right height." —Mitt Romney, campaigning in Michigan (February 2012)

"My dad, as you probably know, was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company.  (Mitt Romney, in leaked comments from a Florida fundraiser, May 17 2012") 

[My wife] drives a couple of Cadillacs." –Mitt Romney, campaigning for president in Michigan (February 2012) 

Interviewer: Really?  How many can she drive at the same time?  Where is your wife? Will she be speaking with us?

Romney:  "We use Ann sparingly right now so that people don't get tired of her." –Mitt Romney, referring to his wife while speaking to a room of wealthy donors in Florida, May 17, 2012


Interviewer:  Don't you feel any connection to foreign born individuals?

Romney:  "My dad, as you probably know, was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company. But he was born in Mexico. And had he been born of Mexican parents, I'd have a better shot of winning this (laughter).

"But he was unfortunately born to Americans living in Mexico. He lived there a number of years, and I mean I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be Latino."

Interviewer:  Are you thinking about 2016?

Romney:  "Join me in welcoming the next president of the United States, Paul Ryan." –Mitt Romney, committing a gaffe while introducing his running mate, Norfolk, Va., Aug. 11, 2012

Never Saw the End Coming

Kindly enjoy this pre-election video of Team Romney talking about how awesome “ORCA” is.  "Gitcho says ORCA would ensure that the campaign had more info than the exit polls, and yet there Mitt was at 11 p.m. ET, “shellshocked” to find that he’d lost a race that most recent state polls had suggested he’d surely lose."

The left-leaning news site Mother Jones posted footage of most of Romney's speech at a $50,000-a-plate fundraising dinner in Boca Raton, Fla., in May 2012.  See the full videos HERE and read the complete transcript HERE.