Romney said he did not rule out appointing a Muslim to his Cabinet.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney disputed a report Tuesday that he categorically ruled out appointing a Muslim to a Cabinet position.
Mansoor Ijaz, an American born businessman of Islamic faith, writes in the Christian Science Monitor that at a recent campaign event Romney said assigning a Muslim to his Cabinet would not be "justified" based on their percentage of the population.
"Romney, whose Mormon faith has become the subject of heated debate in Republican caucuses, wants America to be blind to his religious beliefs and judge him on merit instead," Ijaz writes. "Yet he seems to accept excluding Muslims because of their religion, claiming they're too much of a minority for a post in high-level policymaking."
Campaigning in Florida, the former Massachusetts governor denied making such a blanket statement.
“His question was did I need to have a Muslim in my Cabinet to be able to confront radical jihad and would it be important to have a Muslim in my Cabinet,” said Romney, “and I said, 'No I don't think you need to have a Muslim in the Cabinet to take on radical jihad any more than during the second world war we needed to have a Japanese American to help us understand the threat that was coming from Japan.
“The people who would be part of my cabinet is something that I really haven't given a lot of thought to at this point, but I don't have boxes I check off as to their ethnicity…instead I would choose people based upon their merits and their capabilities,” he added.
Meanwhile, rival John McCain took aim at the alleged comments while campaigning in South Carolina. (Watch McCain's comments)
“I think his comment is indicative of how he might govern and I think it's absolutely wrong,” said the Arizona senator. “You appoint the most qualified people for the job, no matter who they are, where they come from, or where in America, as long as they're citizens.”
– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
From CNN Politics
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Ahh...riling up nativist sentiment since'06. Many of the GOP love sweeping generalizations. Maybe they ironically view Romney as a blasphemous, cousin(s)-marrying, racist, prairie dog eating, overall-wearing, booze-avoiding hilljack from Ogden.
Eventually weasels like Mitt Romney and Rudy Guiliani get caught.
I believe Romney a whole lot more quickly than I do John McCain, and certainly more quickly than somebody who contributes to the Christian Science Monitor.
DID HE SAY IT OR NOT – HE SAID HE DIDN'T – DID ANYONE GET IT ONE TAPE? IF NOT ITS PROBUBLY NOT TRUE.
Well I'm not sure what else Romney can to do to hurt himself in the primaries. Can I vote for none of the above this election?
if this lying, fake and naive republican wont have a muslim in his cabinet, then we the "people wont have him a mormon as president" simply put romney doesnt think honesty is the best principle, who is this guy??? God save America from romney, he smells of racist, he has no african-americans in his inner circle or team, now muslim – americans can hold office in his cabinet??? for the record im not muslim, i just dont want a racist as president!!!
This is ridiculous and sounds all too similar to Al Sharpton's attack on Howard Dean in 2004. Sharpton pinned him for not appointing any Latinos or African Americans to his Vermont cabinet, when both groups made up less than 1% of the state population respectively. The only difference is that Romney isn't dumb enough to fall for it like Dean did.
Yeah.. and I AGREE with Romney.. although he is not getting my vote.. Hillary is.
if this lying, fake and naive republican wont have a muslim in his cabinet, then we the "people wont have him a mormon as president" simply put romney doesnt think honesty is the best principle, who is this guy??? God save America from romney, he smells of racist, he has no african-americans in his inner circle or team, now muslim – americans cant hold office in his cabinet??? for the record im not muslim, i just dont want a racist as president!!!
umm– why is this a story.. His comment makes sense. There's no controversy.. CNN– your a bunch of idiots
Saying that somebody should not be able to serve in Mitts cabinet solly because of his/her religion is a minority religion, is kind of like saying Mitt should not be able to serve as a president because he is a Mormon (a minority religion in the US).
Maybe jews shouldnt be able serve either, eh Mitt, they are a minority religion in the US too.
What an idiot this man is, he is a flip-flopper, and the worst of all a hypocrite.
Flip-flop ... flip-flop ... flip-flop... Here we go again, Mitt.
McCain only restates what is said by Romney: "I would appoint whomever is most qualified" There is no news here, just distorted takes on Romney words by the media.
I didnt know McCain was still running.
The claim the Romnney said he wouldn't appoint someone to his cabinet because they're Muslim is ridiculous. Even if you don't like Romney, he's extremely intelligent and he's not going make a comment like that when the biggest obstacle he faces in his own election is religious descrimination. Try again, that one's not going to fly with those of us in the realm of intelligence.
let's all take aim at alleged comments...this will create a much more interesting debate!
What does jihad have to do with the Muslim faith anyway, from what I can tell, jihadists and terrorists are murderers attempting to hijack the peaceful religion of Islam. To say otherwise is wrong. Romney knows that and I hope McCain does as well.
All Muslims qualified for US Government Cabinet posts, please send your resumes in to all candidates...as the choosing may begin any day.
This is no surprise! This oh so pro family guy is only family when it comes to his idea of family and not all families...listen to his inflamatory and hateful staements regarding LGBT families or single parent families. he lives in a fantastical vacuum...
This is bad publicy to Romney. I don't think america is ready for a Mormon president at this time.
It seems the Mr. MCain does agree with Mr. Romney, that appointments should be based upon ability, not upon political posturing. Let's hope that the next President will conduct themselves with honest, thoughtful distinction, whoever that may be.
what Romney said was that he would not use quotas to dictate hiring. It doesn't take a muslim to solve problems with jihadists or terrorists. After all the jihadists are murderers not muslims!
muslims should have the same freedoms to hold office and practice their faith as Christians are allowed to hold office and pray in places such as Saudi Arabia.
so Romney would not exclude Muslims or any other religion and he would not use quotas to determine who to hire....sounds good, so where is the story?
The question that is detailed was asked at a fundrasing event that I attended in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. The facts regarding the question and answer are exactly as Romney said. I was very impressed with him during the event and hope he continues to do well.
He should not rule out a Muslim for the Cabinet of course. Many Muslims have held office and are vested in improving our country. Good Luck at the debates Mitt.
I may agree with Romney, NO MUSLIMS in our governemnt, read the Koran and you know their agenda, why not have Osama bin Laden in the cabinet as well, get real people, this is fact they aim to make the world Muslim, this statement is not political correctness, it is what it is, wake up America....
Well, Mr. Mansoor Ijaz (reminds me of a John Wayne sidekick in The Comancheros), I would tell you that I have not thought very highly of Mitt Romney until this very moment. Until "moderate" Muslims come out publicly to denounce Osama Bin Ladin and all his cronies and wannabes, and keep renouncing him, Monsoor, I will be four square against having any Muslim in a position of authority and power in this government. In addition to that, Monsoor, until that denouncement comes loudly and strongly from those Muslims, ALL Muslims are suspect, in my humble opinion.
What a hypocrite.
Don't you think...if it was said, there'd probably be a tape/video about it, a reporter providing literal text about it, not some heresay about some guy who could very likely be making something up? Look at the real video about a reporter asking Romney about the accusation. Do you think the very thorough response he gave is something someone can make up on the fly?
America, if you can look beyond the noise and clutter that is being thrown at Mitt Romney, you'll find the most qualified, sincere candidate out there. Look past the naysayers, those who disseminate the rumors and lies. This guy is genuine and if America passes up this opportunity to have him as President, what a loss for our country. This guy is amazing. He's smart, he's experienced. He's proven himself in every part of his life. His record in Massachusetts as governor shows that he can fill a cabinet with a variety of backgrounds and talent, no matter the ethnicity, religious background, or any other attribute. He's certainly one that understands the concept of being excluded based on religion, so why would he make such a comment about Muslims? He wouldn't, so don't buy into the lies and distractions.
CNN's reporting on this is ridiculous and morally wrong. Unless they have a quote from Romney saying he wouldn't appoint a Muslim in his cabinet, there is absolutely no controversy, but the way this story is presented, false information and controversy is generated. Shame on CNN and all covering this non-issue in such a manner.
wow some people are so dense. I mean read what he said. He did not say what is claimed and mccain jumps right on him before actually figuring out what was said! The people who are outraged by this are not smart enough to cast a ballot!
If he really did say this it is the only thing that he has said that I agree with.
Hey, I really admire Senator McCain, but he is totally out of line jumping on Romney when the Governor's words have clearly been twisted. It's incredible how many people out there are just laying in wait to distort and isolate words to victimize themselves. Romney is a logical optimist in an illogical pessimists' realm.
What is even more disappointing than CNNs reporting here is to read through these comments and see how many people judge Romney on something he may not have even said. Does the voting public have similar shallow intellect and ability to discern from actual reporting and false reporting and dirt-digging found in the gossip magazines? It's sad.
Fortunately, he won't have a cabinet or an administration.
Shouldn't we be getting words on tape before making this a story? Seems like hearsay to me. Any blockhead can put words in a candidate's mouth. Undoubtably, this is exactly what happened here. Non-story.
Good Ol' Romney and his 'Foot in Mouth' disease... it's not so cute after the what, 200th time?
Mitt's right– no fringe groups (like his?) are fit to work for our government at the highest levels. If he doesn't listen to his staff soon and address why Mormonism isn't a cult, he's toast.
What did he really say? View the video at http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2007/11/27/mccain.romney.muslims.cnn
Is it me, or did McCain basically just state what Romney said?
I have no problem with any candidate appointing Muslims, provided the appointee is vetted properly. For example, whether they agree with whipping and imprisoning a woman who was gang raped because she was with an unrelated male friend when she was assaulted (see Saudia Arabia) or whether they agree with whipping and imprisoning a kindergarten school teacher because her 6-year old students named a teddy bear Mohammed (see Sudan). If the proposed appointee does not affirmatively and unequivocally disavow these Muslim practices, then I would hope that their religion WOULD bar their appointment.
Imagine if the US was an Islamic State. Mitt would be getting at least 40 lashes.
I'm so sick of all Moslems. They are evil and are going to be the downfall of our society. As soon as the Moslems in the United States take an oath saying that terrorism is wrong and that September 11th should not have happened then I will speak to one again.
so CNN, what is your agenda??
As Romney said, "I would appoint whomever is most qualified"
There is no news here, just twisted quotes and misinformation!
he obviously didn't mean it the way the media is playing it out. Give him a break, he seems like a good guy and would make a great President (especially compared to Hillary!)
I wouldn't vote for anybody because they were mormon, black, white or muslim. I'd just like to have a chance to vote for someone who I can respect and trust!
If Mitt Romney did say this it is disgraceful...look at how many Jews have served and the only represent a small number of the population, there are more gays than jews and have they served cabinet posts; give me a break, if they are good for the job appoint them, don't do it based on numbers; I thought we as a nation knew better than this.
This is a journalistic hack job. The questioner is trying to make a name for himself. The guy asks a question "Would you give a Muslim a job b/c he is Muslim and might therefore understand terrorists better" And Romney says, no cabinet positions based upon affirmative action...merit applicants only.
maybe you should attempt to listen to what romney says before you start calling him racist, a weasel, a liar, etc... he responded to this story by saying he said it was not required to have a Muslim on the Cabinet. where's the controversy? FDR/Truman didn't appoint a Japanese, German, or Italian citizen to their staff in WWII did they?
In all honesty, I am not prejudiced against muslims, but muslims for some odd reason have a hard time fixing whats in their backyard. In the U.S. they do very well, but still many of them absolutely hate the west yet would die if they had leave back to the middle east.
This is stupid. I'm a democrat and not a Romney supporter, but Romney clearly did not say that he wouldn't appoint a Muslim to his cabinet. He said that he didn't think it was necessary to appoint a Muslim. He's saying that he'd base his decisions off of qualifications and not religious affiliation, not the other way around. The media, and people with poor reading comprehension, are just twisting this to make an interesting story.
This is absolutely ridiculous! Governor Romney and John McCain are saying the same thing. Both would appoint based on qualifications. That reporter should have gotten his facts correct before even asking the question to McCain! He didn't even know the comments Romney had made or the context they were in. It's stories like these that start rummors and then you get people starting to believe things that are not true. I'm surpised this was even written. Shame on that reporter!
I think the way Romney answered the question was wrong regardless of his actual beliefs. Using the racism and bigotry of a past era of American society to justify the racism and bigotry of our current era is deeply troubling.
Mansour, You wish to be mainstream instead of "minority" yet where have you and your kind beem during our direst hour of need in publicly denouncing the actions of your "extremist" brethren for their blatant attacks on civilized society. Oh, I'm sorry I forgot- only in the MUslim faith can you kill and still go to "heaven" and your misdeeds are rewarded with eternal merits. Being a "minor" and hiding behind the veil of ambiguity was acceptable then. If you want to be mainstream then be man enough to publicly denounce the errors of your brethren's ways,as did the late great Pope John Paul II when he openly denounced the sins of his forefathers during the Spanish Inquisition. Then accept and adopt to american culture and society and be tolerant of other faiths. Then, you can be mainstream.
Morman VS Muslim- Both are Anti-Christian- and won't win so what is all the hype about!
jay, sherman oaks CA:
What in hell does Romney's statement have to do with his faith? If you don't have the concept, please don't comment.
When you actually read the response Romney gave to the baited question about cabinet members, you can see his response is very reasonable. I don't think you need to worry about if Romney understands what it's like to be a member of a religious minority and still be judged based on one's performance and ability.
This just sounds like a cunningly placed dirt clod by the Clinton camp, in order to create doubt about a truly honest and upright individual, let alone an extremely capable candidate with a very high IQ and organizational skills to get us back to economic greatness. Hillary is scared to death of running against Romney because he really doesn't have any REAL skeletons in his closet. Therefore, they have to resort to throwing trip wires out to the public. The sad state of affairs in this country is such that many people are beginning to disdain good people who strive to live exemplary lives. I hope the well-informed people in this country get the facts straight. Politics is sooooooo dirty!
If I am not mistaken i do believe Romney said he would "choose people based upon their merits and their capabilities." So why is McCain saying, “You appoint the most qualified people for the job, no matter who they are, where they come from, or where in America, as long as they're citizens.” McCain's statement is redundant in this situation, did Romney not say he would choose based on merit not race or religion?
Silliness. Just mud-slinging by the media and a failed opponent.
Unfortunately, Americans as a whole buy into this kind of baloney. Take Jay, a poster from CA above me, for example. "America isn't ready for a mormon president." Is that really the intellectual level that we're "ok" with in this election? Good grief.
"Did we need to have a Japanese-American in the cabinet during the second world war?"
Um, actually, we might not have degraded and stolen from Japanese-Americans by putting them in internment camps, had they had an advocate in the cabinet. Or at least somebody with common sense, or something resembling a conscience.
What a dumb analogy for Romney to use.
Romney got even more bad news when a new Florida poll was released this afternoon that has Huckabee surging to second place behind Giuliani... confirming that his surge is real, and coming at Romney's expense.
Whats the problem? What he said makes perfect sense. The reporter asking McCain the question twisted the report.
Please read the whole article before posting people! Are we to that stage now where people won't even get to the end of a short blog post before firming up their opinions?
Cannot stand McCain. Always criticizing other people, but he accomplishes so little. Says republicans spend like drunken sailors, but then does he provide leadership? Take away the fiscal keys. No, republicans keep spending. His state (Arizona) has a huge illegal alien problem but McCain held up legislation for years saying couldn't secure borders until we had a guest worker program. Ooops, now 14 million illegals in US. He wants to send troops to Iraq but not our own borders. Drives me nuts.
....Yet HE SEEMS to accept excluding Muslims because of their religion...
SEEMS like a journalistic stretch.
Is there so much demand for stories that we need to manufacture controversies??? We're not fools!!
Mansoor Ijaz: Is it necessary for Osama Bin Laden et al. to have a Mormon, Catholic, Protestant, Lutheran, Methodist, Jew, Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostal, Anglican, Evangilical, Jehovah's Witness, Quaker, and Atheist, and so on, to part of his cabinet in order to confront America and allies?
I don't understand the headline. How can Romney "take heat" for things he did not say?
All these politicians do is talk...do you really need to put words in their mouth?
I think I'll make a fake Q & A too (the one that is drawing 'fire'), and help more of the hidden agendas out there...
What Romney meant to say was that he would not appoint a Muslim to his Cabinet just because they are Muslim.
Now that would jive with what Romney has been saying on the campaign trail.
This is ridiculous. Romney wasn't saying he wouldn't hire a Muslim to his Cabinet, he was only saying it wasn't necessary. He simply wants the most qualified candidates, whether they be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or maybe even...Mormon.
Your front page headline says that Romney is "under attack for Muslim comment."
Under attack from who? One guy says he heard him say something, Romney says he didn't say it. There is no independent evidence that Romney said it, but CNN the CNN headline reports the comment being made as fact.
But there is no bias in the media.
What a joke. What a non-story.
Romney's statements were no accident. Romney's comments are the type of comments that make most moderate Americans leary of this candidate.
And, as for McCain, I have to feel a bit bad for the guy. As with other posters, I didn't think he was running anymore.
I see everyone jumping to all kinds of incorrect conclusions here...I watched his comments and he was saying EXACTLY the same thing as McCain. Everyone loves to get on an immediate rant on how someone is racist when he was talking about getting someone with the right qualifications. No wonder you idiots end up electing other idiots to run the country. Stop listening to the soundbites and listen to the candidates themselves.
This is the same guy who told a sick man in a wheelchair he wouldn't help him get medicinal marijuana even though he needed it to function.
I've ruled everyone out except for Thompson and Paul. Let's hope one of those two doesn't turn out to be a total disappointment like Romney.
Romney may or may not be a bigot, but there are many more reasons than not to avoid a vote for Romney.
There are only a couple of options here. Either Ijaz or Ijaz is lying. Or there was simply a misunderstanding about the question being asked.
Either way, I think I agree that the lack of video or audio recording favors Romney's account of the exchange.
And he has clearly stated his intention of not limiting anyone from his cabinet based on race or religion.
Why is religion being confused with ethnicity in this article? Islam is not an ethnicity.
And I'm confused as to how exactly McCain is "taking aim" at Romney.
Romney said: "I would choose people based upon their merits and their capabilities"
McCain said: "You appoint the most qualified people for the job, no matter who they are, where they come from, or where in America, as long as they're citizens."
Wow! So they agree! McCain's quip is a sign of desperation for a campaign that has been going downhill since it's announcement. Just drop out John.
Actually, had Roosevelt had a Japanese American on the cabinet, then maybe this country would not have pursued one of the most outlandish unconstitutional violations of human rights this country has ever approved...
Nevertheless, Romney's comment using Japanese Americans and his rather convoluted justification is probably indicative of his convoluted, confused and misdirected thinking.
His response should have been "I would look for people who are the most qualified to address the issues of the American people." It was that simple, but instead he gave some racially charged diatribe... you ought to be scared of this guy!
Why do we care about offending Muslims when the militant part of that group insults everybody else across the board? Why not create 1000 new special interest groups and further muck up the USA? Eat pork towel heads.
And without a Japanese American in the Cabinet in WWII we got Korematsu and the concentration camps of Japanese Americans (next to or nearby the concentration camps containing Native Americans, that still exist) and a Supreme Court that was willing to go along with it.
Hold it. Don't ALL REPUBLICANS – especially those from the GREAT STATE OF TEXAS – only appoint the MOST QUALIFIED PEOPLE to political positions?
"You're doing a fine job Brownie!"
Um, Mitt, wouldn't you think that the best decision would be to appoint the best-qualified person to the position, regardless of religion? Oh, wait, that would be sensible!
Funny...McCain didn't read all of Romney's comment apparently because it looks like they were saying the same thing.
Well I'm not sure what else Romney can to do to hurt himself in the primaries. Can I vote for none of the above this election?
Posted By Jason, Seattle, WA : November 27, 2007 6:44 pm
Sure – vote Democratic.
Romney's statement was very stupid and ridiculous.
Maybe if we did have a Japanese American advisor during WWII, maybe would would not have put so many Japanese Americans in intern-camps. Maybe we would have decided against the Atomic bomb on Japan "those" people.
Romney is racist, and Muslims have been here since antebellum.
I think that he should look for qualified Muslims and Japanese to be part of his Cabinet.
Is Romney going to fill the Cabinet with all Mormons, I think even Christians have different view points on their faith.
People who think Romney's comments are racist are the same people who thought Bin Laden was a nice guy in the 80's.
Based on their population? Do you know your census Mr. Romney? You being from a Mormon faith which is the minority should 've been more understanding of other faiths. Shame on you Mr. Romney.
GOOD FOR HIM!
This is a non-story. If you read the full story, you'll see that his comment makes total sense. It seems he has purposefully been misquoted to generate controversy. The author should be ashamed.
Food fight in the GOP sandbox.
How messy.
Both of these buffoons are going nowhere.
All religions are idiotic and to mandate a believe in an imaginary being is inane.
Worse is how it is shoved down everyone’s throat.
When did it become mandatory for these morons to have to pander to right-wing nut jobs.
Have you ever noticed the liberals they hate never, ever try and tell grown-ups how to live yet the religious fanatics and you know who you are any of you think they are the only ones the moral high ground.
Even though they are the ones being picked up for being gay or running with prostitutes.
It would be funny if it was not so sad but, I am sure some lunatic will kill me because you can never question holy-rollerism.
But would he consult the First Ladies when considering potential members of his cabinet?
So quick most of you are to start calling Romney a "racist"; however, do you really know what was said? It sounds like Romney said one thing and it was interpreted to mean something else– it's called a miscommunication, and it happens all the time.
Maybe you haters should consider BOTH sides of the story instead of automatically labeling him a racist just because he's a white, Christian male... I guess I'm asking too much from some of you school children!
Romney is right. You pick a person for what he can do, what he knows and how he will go about it. Not because he is muslim, catholic or anything else. If people don't like,suck it in. It's your abilities that count, not what you are.
What did you expect from a MORMAN.
I think I can take Romney's explanation of his answer to the question at face value. I'm still not going to vote for him tho.
This is bad publicy to Romney. I don't think america is ready for a Mormon president at this time.
Posted By jay, sherman oaks CA : November 27, 2007 7:25 pm
"jay", can you read or write or are they not teaching those things in California anymore?
This muslim liar is trying to make something out of nothing as is McCain and CNN, must mean Romney is doing something right.
Heaven forbid we base appointments on who is most qualified, I don't want another 4 YEARS of Bush hirings that got done because they were buddies.
If the person HAPPENS to be a woman or a minority and is the best qualified ROMNEY WILL HIRE THEM, is that a bad thing after 8 years of Bush?
As for us "not being ready for a Mormon President", not sure what that has to do with the given subject, but people who can't read or write do indeed have "closed minds".
The dem's have come up with another unstory that their news outlet is trying to make into an issue. It's all ex nihilo.
The sad part of the story is that a significant percentage of America is more than willing to discriminate against all Muslims and a large percentage of politicians are more than willing to placate those "voters".
This is a complete joke. Romney said he would pick people based on merit, not on religious belief. McCain said the same thing. Is everyone on Crack?
Funny that half the people commenting in this thread didn't even read the story. Or if they did, then they didn't understand what they were reading (which is just sad).
Even sadder is the fact that this is a "story" to be read at all.
Good for Romney. We shouldn't appoint a Muslim, or anyone for that matter, just because of his/her religion and minority status. It should be based on qualifications and not to appease a demographic. And don't ever try to make the US a Muslim state either. You want to live here in this country you must live by our rules and culture. Don't like it, then leave.
"To the victor goes the spoils." All of you are wasting your time and energy complaining about Romney. If he wins, and that is a big if, he get to choose whoever he wants for his cabinet. Get over it!
Has anyone read the Quran, it is about killing infidels and those who speak out against Islam. Also the treatment of women is that of slavery. To let a person of that belief in a high post would be treason to the Contstitution.
I would only want a qualified American in my cabinet. If that resulted in all members being the same race, gender and religion I would take efficiency and accountability over diversity. I really doubt they could ever be that homogeneous. Unfortunately I would also question the efficiency and accountability of the recent Cabinet.
Isn't it ironic that when the subject revolves around Christianity, everyone screams "Separation of Church and State", but when it revolves around Islam, its OK to bring up religion. Is that simply because a Mosque is not a "church" or is it deeper? America had better not forget our roots or we will be pulled up by them.
It is obvious from many of these comments that sound bites work. Read the entire article and not just the headline. What he said makes perfect sense, what the headline implies does not.
If the cabinet is supposed to be comprised based on the percentage of beliefs of the people, is Romney ready to represent the 10% of the American population that is non-theistic by making 10% of his cabinet Atheist, Agnostic or Deist? Somehow I seriously doubt it.
My wife attended the camapaign event and she corroborates Governor Romney's version of his comments. A question was posed as to whether or not Governor Romney felt it was necessary to have a Muslim in his cabinet to deal with the radical Islamic problems we're experiencing. Governor Romney simply stated that it wasn't necessary in order to deal with the problems. He never said he wouldn't nominate a Muslim for his cabinet. The original story is irresponsible reporting at its worst.
Why didn't this story report that Mansoor Ijaz is a Democratic fund raiser with obvious motivation to misinterpret or misquote Romney's remarks? He has contributed to Hillary as well as Bill, and this is just their lame attempt to attack Romney's religion indirectly. It speaks well of Romney that he has them worried enough to start pulling out their smears and dirty tricks this early.
who cares if he appoints/doesn't appoint a muslim to the cabinet. maybe he should throw a scientologist and a Branch Davidian into the cabinet as well just so we make everyone happy.
HA! Romney's such a two-faced liar. There's no way his Mormon beliefs would ever let him shake hands with a Muslim, much less have one in his cabinet.
in the history of this country there has always been a group of people intolerant and ignorant, fortunately this great country over comes all of this sooner or later. I f you go 40 or 50 yrs back in history, you will see similar comment made about blacks, catholic, Jews and , yes Mormons.....so on...
What else is new, Republicans appeal to narrow minded citizens down south and bigots.
I like how there are two sides to this. we have to analyze the question first that was asked of Romney. and then see how the answers get construed. just part of the political game folks.
R Arkeny IN:
You realize a good majority of Muslims are nothing like the radical fundamentalists the media makes them out to be.
Either way, it's not like Christianity is a shining beacon of reason, either. In fact, there are just about the same amount of fundies on the Christian side of the coin.
"“His question was did I need to have a Muslim in my Cabinet to be able to confront radical jihad and would it be important to have a Muslim in my Cabinet,” said Romney, “and I said, 'No I don't think you need to have a Muslim in the Cabinet to take on radical jihad any more than during the second world war we needed to have a Japanese American to help us understand the threat that was coming from Japan.
“The people who would be part of my cabinet is something that I really haven't given a lot of thought to at this point, but I don't have boxes I check off as to their ethnicity…instead I would choose people based upon their merits and their capabilities,” he added."
Good, we don't need another Clinton who appointed token minorities to mid-level cabinet positions.
OOPS! Romney blows it again. Can't hide that bigotry for long.
DID HE SAY IT OR NOT – HE SAID HE DIDN'T – DID ANYONE GET IT ONE TAPE? IF NOT ITS PROBUBLY NOT TRUE.
Posted By leo, new bern, nc : November 27, 2007 6:41 pm
Yes Leo they did and if you did your homework and shut off your caps once in awhile you could check it out on line. This bigot said it and then tried to rewrite history. Why do you repukes have a problem remembering that you're always going to recorded and transcripts will follow. More Kool-Aide anyone. God Shut-up already!
There's no way his Mormon beliefs would ever let him shake hands with a Muslim, much less have one in his cabinet.
Posted By Richard, St. Paul, MN : November 28, 2007 10:31 am
Good grief, I can't believe people are this ignorant in the year 2007.
When one studies Mormonism and Islam, there really are far more silimarities than differences. I seriously doubt that Mr. Romney would exclude Muslims from his cabinet should he be elected.
Posted By Christopher, correcting GOP lies without the spin, Madison, WI : November 28, 2007 12:27 pm
Can you provide the transcripts or the link that proves what this person is saying or perhaps somebody else WHO WAS IN THE ROOM can corroborate his story?
There were other people in the room, but strangely nobody else has said this and nobody else is reporting it.
Do some research on this "gentlemen" fron New York (hmmm) and you will find he is a big supporter of the Clinton's (again hmmm).
Thank you, Gundy, UT. That's exactly what I was going to comment until I read yours. McCain just reiterated the same thing that Romney stated using different words.
Since Romney is now a front runner in early primary states (NH, IA, SC) these negative statements from the other contenders are bound to occur. First Huck, then Fred, then Rudy and now McCain. Do you see the pattern here? This is why it's called the RACE.
KEITH JAMES LOUTTIT:
Did you even read the article?.
This is directed towards the statement that talks about Mormon beliefs and shaking hands with Muslims. I knew a Mormon family that took in an orphaned 14 year old boy from the middle east. That Mormon family took him to Mosque every week, and encouraged his native religious and cultural heritage. If Mormons weren't allowed to shake hands with a Muslim, they certainly wouldn't have taken them into their home and loved him as their son. I think some of you should get your facts straight before you begin fueling the fires of hatred.
I'm not so sure I would put a Muslin in my Cabinet either! That's a bit ridiculous! I'm not a Republican fan, but I sure as hell support Mitt's decision!