UK: Romney 'graceless and rude'

PJ:  Please note that The Telegraph, which is London's conservative newspaper, also ran the story about Romney's aides bashing President Obama, citing an understanding (or lack thereof) of Anglo-Saxon heritage (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/mitt-romney/9424524/Mitt-Romney-would-restore-Anglo-Saxon-relations-between-Britain-and-America.html).  
 
The Telegraph

Olympics: Mitt Romney seeks to play down London 2012 comments

Mitt Romney, the United States presidential candidate, has attempted to sooth cross-Atlantic tensions after questioning whether London could put on a successful Olympics.

Photo: PA/AP

By Rosa Prince, Online Political Editor, James Kirkup, Deputy Political Editor

1:29PM BST 26 Jul 2012

55 Comments

“To look out of the back side of 10 Downing St and see a venue having been conducted, knowing that athletes will be carrying out their competition almost in the back yard of the Prime Minister, is quite an accomplishment on the part of those who wanted to make sure the Olympics was not something held far off where the people could not enjoy it but right in London itself.

“This is an indication of a community that will share in the Olympic experience, be unified and uplifted by it and I am delighte."

 

Following an hour-long meeting with David Cameron at 10 Downing Street, in which he saw the Prime Minister's view of the Olympic Volleyball court, Mr Romney said: “I expect the Games to be highly successful. I am very delighted with the prospects of a highly successful Olympic Games.

“What I have seen shows imagination and forethought and a lot of organisation.

The two men are said to have got on well during their talks, despite the barbed rebuke Mr Cameron delivered beforehand when asked about Mr Romney’s concerns about the capital’s preparedness for the Games.

He point out that the 2012 Olympics were taking place in a busy city rather than “the middle of nowhere” – a remark was widely seen as a reference to the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, which the Mr Romney was in charge of organising.

And following their talk, Mr Romney appeared to have taken the hint, saying: "I applaud the work of the organising committee in bringing the Olympics right into the heart of London.

His words contrasted with an interview he gave to US television channel NBC News shortly before arriving in London, in which he played up the teething problems which have beset preparations for 2012, and appeared to suggest that Britons would not get behind the Games.

"Do they come together and celebrate the Olympic moment? That's something which we only find out once the Games actually begin," he said.

"It's hard to know just how well it will turn out. There are a few things that were disconcerting.
"The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and Customs officials - that obviously is not something which is encouraging."

The remarks were greeted with anger, with many British supporters of the Games taking to Twitter to accuse Mr Romney of being graceless and rude.

Read it at The Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/9429187/Olympics-Mitt-Romney-seeks-to-play-down-London-2012-comments.html