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December 2, 2008 11:48:40 AM CST

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'08 Alert: Mitt Misspoke on King March

Posted Dec 21, 07 5:29 PM CST in Politics 

(Newser) – Mitt Romney backtracked yesterday from claims that he saw his father march with Martin Luther King in the 1960s, saying he used "saw" as “a figure of speech." The Boston Globe dissects the partial mea culpa, noting that the candidate couldn't have "seen" it even figuratively because Romney père never walked an inch with the civil-rights leader. Worse, Mitt “went a step further” in 1978, the piece notes, declaring, “My father and I marched with” King.

The New York Times' Michael Luo senses a pattern, alleging that Romney is “prone to exaggeration, taking what is essentially a kernel of truth and stretching it to bolster his case.” The evidence: Romney claimed a nonexistent 2002 NRA endorsement, professed to being a lifelong hunter when he’d only hunted twice, and said he “got tough on” methamphetamines when his bill in fact died in legislature.

Sources Boston Globe, New York Times

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This photo provided by the Romney for President, Inc., shows George Romney, left, and son Mitt Romney, right, in their Detroit, Mich., home in 1957. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Romney family)   (Associated Press)
The shadow of a Christmas wreath is imposed on a campaign sign, where Republican presidential hopeful, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, speaks during a campaign stop Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007, in...   (Associated Press)
Republican presidential hopeful, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, speaks during a campaign stop Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007, in Indianola, Iowa. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)   (Associated Press)
Republican presidential hopeful, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, speaks at a campaign stop Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007, in Davenport, Iowa. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)   (Associated Press)
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Mitt Romney • Martin Luther King Jr. • NRA • lying • George Romney


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