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Obama Tries to Capitalize on Romney Son's Birther Gaffe

Matt Romney apologizes for joke about birth certificate

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 31, 2011 7:16 AM CST

(Newser) – Probably the weirdest thing to come off the campaign trail yesterday was the mini-brouhaha that resulted when one of Mitt Romney's sons made a birther joke. As CBS explains, Matt Romney, 40, was answering a question in New Hampshire about whether his father would ever release his tax returns, when he went for a laugh: "I heard someone suggest the other day that as soon as President Obama releases his grades and birth certificate and sort of a long list of things, then maybe he'd do it."

Romney's eldest son, Tagg, 41, immediately jumped in and added, "That was not my dad saying that," reports ABC's The Note blog. But the comment still got picked up, prompting Matt to apologize later for repeating a "dumb joke." The Obama campaign, meanwhile, sent out an email hoping to cash in on it: "This is how the Romney campaign thinks it's going to win the Republican primary: by pandering to the dead-ender fringe of extremists who still question where the president was born," it reads, before soliciting a donation.

Mitt Romney, right, and his son Matt in a 2008 file photo.
Mitt Romney, right, and his son Matt in a 2008 file photo.   (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
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A clip of Matt Romney's joke.   (CBS)

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 54 comments
without_hate
Jan 1, 2012 1:30 AM CST
January 01, 2012 Greeting Mr. President: It is new year day. The new year brings hope for a better life for our people. As you might have been told, we have Americans that are dumpster diving and living in tents.Today, lets lift our voice in prayer  to Allah,Christ, or Jehovah depending on the supreme being that you follow and ask that the errors that led to the worst economy since the great depression be revealed and a plan to lead our nation out of desolation will be laid out by the Supreme being because what we humans are doing is not working.  Mr. President, I can not advise you as I am a lowly citizen that is not allowed in the halls of the palace. I am am a stake holder in what once was a great nation, it is my hope that you as the CEO will take the honorable and honest steps to right a sinking ship.I am very disappointed that your promise to be transparent and honest with the American people appears to to have been broken before you moved into the White House.  The evil demons of deception and lies are hovering over your administration and you invited them in with your refusal to open all your records for the American people to examine and judge you based on merit. You fed the birth argument by spending millions to hide your records. One phone call to the following can clear out these demons and give you a fresh start in the New Year. Call the vital records in Hawaii, Harvard, Columbia and your high school tell them to release the records and the controversy is ended. I hope that you are well and happy. Please save the scraps from the two hundred dollars dinner that you are enjoying and have your staff give it to a starving pipe fitter in the mid-west. They need jobs, the keystone pipe line is being held hostage by non scientific radical environmentalist.  I know that you have groups you have to cater to in order to be reelected, the scraps from your table will at least give him a meal for the day. "The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."(Martin Luther King, Jr.) Mr. President, Dr. King is a man that I quote often due to his wisdom. I can not remain silent as long as you allow Eric Holder to lie to the family of Brain Terry, The citizens of Mexico and to commit perjury in the scared halls of congress.  Tell Holder to quit playing games and release all the records including his emails. We the American people know that he is lying. Please fire him before his lies come back to haunt you. Remember Richard Nixon's cover up of breaking into an office.  Sincerely,  without_hate  
TerryMitchell
Dec 31, 2011 10:50 AM CST
There's a fine example of Wingnut mentality....some things will never change....they luv gotcha politics...
cardsfan
Dec 31, 2011 9:33 AM CST
I'm kind of tired of the word "gaffe". It's one of those overplayed words that air-headed pundits use.
 

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