By Lisa Lerer - May 11, 2012 6:13 AM GMT+0700
Mitt Romney apologized today for high school pranks that may have pushed the boundaries into bullying, including an incident in which he led a group of boys in pushing down a screaming fellow student who frequently was taunted about his suspected homosexuality.
“Back in high school, I did some dumb things, and if anybody was hurt by that or offended, obviously I apologize,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said in an interview on Fox News Radio. “I don’t recall the incident myself,” he said in a later interview on Fox TV.
Mitt Romney with his family after his father was elected Governor of Michigan, November 7,1962. Photograph: AP Photo
An article published by the Washington Post today disclosed the incident, saying the student, John Lauber, was often teased because others presumed he was gay. It attributed accounts of the group -- including Romney shoving Lauber and cutting his long blond hair -- to five fellow students at the all-boys private Cranbrook School in Michigan. One former student described the attack as “vicious” and another called it “senseless.”
The Post reported that another student, Gary Hummel, a closeted gay at the time, said his efforts to speak in class were punctuated by shouts of “Atta girl” from Romney.
Romney, 65, said he didn’t remember either incident.
“I had no idea what that individual’s sexual orientation might be,” he said of Lauber. “That was the furthest thing from our minds back in the 1960s,” he said earlier.
Adopting Children
Romney, in his later interview, expressed support for the right of gay couples to adopt children. “I also know many gay couples are able to adopt children,” he said. “That is fine.”
The account comes amid a national conversation about gay rights, after President Barack Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage in an interview with ABC News yesterday. Romney opposes gay marriage and says domestic partnership rights should be determined by individual states.
The Post story lit up social networking sites, including Twitter, and is being spotlighted by a website called the New Civil Rights Movement that is popular with gays. The words “Romney” and “bully” were both included in about 13 Twitter messages per minute today, according to TweetCharts.com, a website that tracks traffic.
In an effort to tamp down the reaction, Romney aides set up the Fox radio interview so he could respond to the allegations. As the candidate did so, campaign aides sought to get former high school friends to publicly share their more positive recollections of Romney, according a staffer.
Not Mean Spirited
Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for the campaign, told the Post that “anyone who knows Mitt Romney knows that he doesn’t have a mean-spirited bone in his body.”
The Post also quoted fellow students, including a former girlfriend, who described Romney as an industrious leader at Cranbrook, where children from the state’s wealthiest families ate in a chandeliered dining room and studied in reading rooms decorated with frescoes and marble friezes. Romney attended the school while his father, George, headed American Motors Co. and he served as governor of the state.
Romney said marrying his wife, Ann, whom he met while at Cranbrook, and going on a Mormon mission in France changed him into a “very different person.”
Romney, who graduated from high school in 1965, questioned how much of a candidate’s background is fair game, given that the incidents in question happened close to 50 years ago. He said he prefers the campaign focus on bigger issues facing the country, including the economy, energy and Iran’s nuclear development.
High School Talk
“There’s going to be some that want to talk about high school,” the former Massachusetts governor said in the Fox News interview. “Well, if you really think that’s important, be my guest.”
Campaigning in Omaha, Nebraska, today, he made no reference to the report or gay marriage as he delivered a 10-minute version of his standard stump speech.
“The problem with the president is his policies are a fallback to the liberal ideas of the past,” Romney told voters at a riverfront restaurant. “These old liberals thought that you could spend and spend and borrow without consequences.”
The federal debt, he said, “is unacceptable.”
“It’s bad economics; it’s bad policy. I think it’s immoral,” he said.
Continuing an effort by his campaign to woo women voters, Romney praised the work of female business owners and his wife, who spent her life raising the couple’s five children.
“I appreciate the contributions of all mothers of all ages and all stages. So thank you to the mothers of this country,” he said to applause.
Earlier in the day, about 500 supporters paid at least $250 --- and $2,500 for a photo with Romney -- to attend a campaign fundraiser at an Omaha hotel.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Lerer in Washington at llerer@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeanne Cummings at jcummings21@bloomberg.net
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