Mitt Romney declares himself 'a guy from Great Britain' after Olympics gaffe

[maddezmom]

Source: The Telegraph

Mitt Romney has emphasised his English ancestry after a gaffe-filled day in London, declaring himself to be “a guy from Great Britain” who is “married to a girl from Wales”.


Wearing a brave face after causing a diplomatic spat by questioning London's readiness to host the Olympics, the Republican presidential candidate joked that Britain felt like “home”.


The former Massachusetts governor and his wife, Ann, were interviewed together after a day from which he was meant to emerge looking like an international statesman descended into farce.


He told CNN's Piers Morgan on Thursday evening that the Olympics would be “terrific”, blessed with “great weather” and full of “enthusiasm on the part of the people here in London”.


¬snip¬

Asked whether he felt “partly English” as a result, a chuckling Mr Romney replied: “Well, I’m married to a girl from Wales, and I’m a guy from Great Britain. So I feel like this is home too, I guess.”

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-politics/9431144/Mitt-Romney-declares-himself-a-guy-from-Great-Britain-after-Olympics-gaffe.html

[Ezlivin]

1. "I bank in the same offshore banks as many other British-type people."

"And I think I have a couple of Jaguars in my maid's garage."

[brooklynite]

15. Don't be ridiculous...

The British bank their lucre in the Channel Islands; much shorter trip than the Caymans.

[JBoy]

2. So does that mean Obama is more American than Romney?

Now I'm confused.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

49. Obama's mother has English ancestry

[MrScorpio]

3. And this is the same guy who accuses the President of being "foreign"?

Can you imagine the reaction from the right if the President went to Africa and called himself "a guy from Kenya?"

[Freddie]

79. ^this^

+1000 !

[enough]

4. Saw the thread title and thought it was satire. Can't believe he actually said that. (nt)

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Mitt, continuing to be anything and everything anybody wants him to be.

[zeemike]

24. Which is what the sociopath does to draw you in.

It is the art of manipulation at work....But Mitt does not do it well because I think he is not so bright.

[Tom Ripley]

52. I also think he doesn't do it well because of his privileged background

When a sociopath is surrounded by his "lessers", he doesn't have to work at winning people over.
Bush Jr had the same problem.

[wordpix]

66. yeah, just last month he was Hispanic & now he's Anglo-Saxon

He needs to dye his hair blond instead of black

[eShirl]

6. What the derp?

[tawadi]

7. Really?

[bluedigger]

8. The trees are all the right size, pip, pip!

[mainstreetonce]

9. He's geographically confused

His great grandfather ran to Mexico to avoid the law, not Britain.

[unblock]

10. he still hasn't figured out the nomenclature. wales is not england and great britain is the island

england is located in great britain, but so are wales and scotland. so it's quite possible to be from great britain (e.g., scotland) and marry someone from wales and not remotely feel that england is home.


in any event, i just think we should emphasize that he's acknowledging that he's not a real american

[GodlessBiker]

11. omg. This is like an Onion piece. He didn't really. What a buffoon.

[Kalidurga]

56. That was my reaction. I had to look at the source.

Romney's gift of gab is turning out to be the best thing for the Democrats since, Bob Woody Dole.

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

12. While I would not want to inflict this upon the English...

Since he is claiming to be from Great Britain and married to a girl from Wales, perhaps we could force him to stay there.

England would be doing us a great favor if they kept him, but I'm afraid they would insist on a huge monetary payment in exchange.

[Mendocino]

59. Birther alert!!!!

Well if he's a guy from Great Britain, he can't run for president here.

[center rising]

13. All Romney is, is an American moron!!

[Renew Deal]

14. I thought he was a guy from Mexico

I guess the trees are the right height in London now?

[Shadowflash]

16. I'm confused.

I thought he had already declared himself to be an Hispanic from Mexico.

[NYC Liberal]

17. Romney admits he wasn't born here!

I guess he isn't eligible for the presidency.

[BREMPRO]

18. lol! funny he doesn't look like he's at home there! more like an alien visiting a distant planet...

isn't he from the planet Kolob? ha ha!

[xtraxritical]

58. Somebody should check his underware, eew.

[snappyturtle]

19. The only claim Mitt can honestly make is that he is very good at pandering. nt

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

20. Does he intend to visit every country to encourage the reality

that he is completely untrustworthy, unstatesmanlike, boorish, offensive and uncaring?

He could have just stayed home and made a commercial for international broadcast doing the same thing.


Also, it would have been better to call himself a bloke, but he would have fouled that up as well.


He is a totally unbelievable droid.

[Rose Siding]

21. This really is like having Palin at the top of the ticket

Calling all birthers

[dixiegrrrrl]

50. except Mitt is no MILF.

other than that....

[sofa king]

22. What about Mexico?

[meegbear]

23. They can have him

[berni_mccoy]

25. It *should* feel like home to him...

Nobody likes him there either!

[mainer]

26. By his definition, Obama would be "a guy from Ireland"

since his mother's ancestors are from Ireland.

[Betty Jo]

31. Mitts Rellies came from "Dalton in Furness

Wikipedia says his paternal relatives came from a town in England called"Dalton in Furness."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romney_family

[TBF]

27. lol - I'm sure the Brits are really happy to hear that declaration. nt

[Solly Mack]

28. What a fucking idiot.

[Smilo]

29. Carl Lewis says.........

Carl Lewis on Mitt Romney: 'some Americans shouldn't leave the country'
US Olympic legend criticises Republican presidential hopeful for questioning whether London is ready for Games.


But look on the bright side - Romney has succeeded in uniting an entire country - against him

[awoke_in_2003]

30. This is too stupid...

to be accidental. I think the pukes are doing this on purpose. He cannot be this stupid, can he?

[synapticwave]

42. It may be somewhat intentional

in order to lower expectations for the debates.

[wordpix]

67. "He cannot be this stupid, can he?" Yes, he can and he is

and he has foot-in-mouth disease

[newspeak]

80. well, don't underestimate the selfish (or just plain ignorant)will of some of the american people

after all, enough americans voted for little boots after he started a fabricated war, didn't heed the august PDB report and publicly joked about hitting the trifecta more than once. He also dissed seniors with the big pharma screw you senior bill which increased the deficit, while making seniors even suffer more and increasing his big pharma friends pockets at our expense. Studs Terkel once said he still had "faith" in the american people-I'm not so sure now days with today's corporate media and corporations blatantly influencing the elections.

[progressivebydesign]

32. But isn't Wales part of Great Britain?

That's like saying "my wife is North American, and I'm from Canada!"

Folks, I think that the all the money he's made does not mean he's smart, just crooked and connected with great accountants.

[smirkymonkey]

63. Yes, you are correct.

Scotland is also part of the island of Great Britian. What a total idiot!

[Javaman]

33. Yeah, I'm sure that fixed everything.

first he fucks up then he sucks up.

fine example of a "leader".

[joost5]

36. hahahaha

first he fucks up then he sucks up

[dipsydoodle]

34. A geezer ?

[malthaussen]

35. I doubt either Romney could find Wales on a map

For which the Welsh should be thankful.

-- Mal

[tinrobot]

37. Can he see Scotland from his house?

Palin claimed she could see Russia.

[nxylas]

38. Say "bloimey, guv'ner" in a Dick Van Dyke accent, Mitt

We Brits just love that.

[Kablooie]

39. I always wonder why Julie Andrews didn't pull him aside and have a little chat about his accent.

[nxylas]

74. My guess is that she didn't think it was her place

Remember, Mary Poppins was her first starring role, while Dick van Dyke was already an established star with, I think, his own TV show at the time. She may have feared that it would have been seen as presumptuous of her to correct him and that she'd get a reputation as a diva.

[Kablooie]

75. She was a Broadway star but this was her first movie.

She was Eliza Doolittle on Broadway but lost the movie role to Audrey Hepburn.
Walt saw her in Camelot and chose her for Mary Poppins.

I'm sure you're right.
She wasn't the powerful star that she is today and was just grateful to get such an iconic role.
(Though she was nothing like the Mary Poppins from the books.)

I worked with a guy who was a genuine Cockney and he mentioned Dick VanDyke several times. It really bugged him.

[Arugula Latte]

41. Maybe Kevin Costner can school him in Britspeak

'Cuz he was flawless in "Robin Hood."

[uppityperson]

48. oh god, went to that movie with a friend who kept "shhhhh"ing me for muttering "shut up, just shut

up".

Later watching Robin Hood, Men In Tights while sick with the flu and it made me laugh when he said "unlike some Robin Hoods, I can speak with a British accent".

[eShirl]

78. Our household uses "Dick Van Dyke" as a verb.

DH tries to correctly pronounce a phrase in Japanese or Uchinaguchi, knows he scewed up, and says, "I really Dick Van Dyked that one, didn't I?"

[Arugula Latte]

40. Then show us your birth certificate, foreigner.

[agentS]

43. So if I make a bunch of Polish jokes while visiting Euro 2012 in Poland,

do I then get to claim I'm Polish if my wife has 1/10th Polish ancestry?

[april]

44. why don't you stay there w/ your wife..you would be doing us a favor

[geardaddy]

45. Well, maybe his wife will understand this then.

Dos i ffwcia dy hun, twll tin.

[waddirum]

46. He's not from "Great Britain"

His roots are in Mexico/Utah/LaJolla/Taxachusetts/Michigan/New Hampshire....

[The Wielding Truth]

53. No. He's saying he was born in Great Britain. Yea. That's it. No. His wife was born in Wales. No.

Does he ever say anything that makes sense and then not change it to something that makes less sense then changes it to something incoherent?

Is he having a nervous breakdown? It is maddening to listen to his ramblings. He cannot become President! He is incapable of forming cohesive thoughts. He is unfit to be another, " Mr. Leader". Oh my....

[uppityperson]

47. Then why are you running for pres of USA? Birth cert please.

[greatauntoftriplets]

51. "International statesman"?????!

[xxqqqzme]

54. Ann's father was from Wales.

She is from Michigan.

My great, great grandfather was an Anglican minister from Scotland. That doesn't make me from Scotland.

[bucolic_frolic]

55. Mitt Romney is not eligible to be President of the United States

He's admitted it. He's a "guy from Great Britain"!

AND ... he doesn't even pay taxes in the United States

so therefore he's not a citizen!

Why won't he show us his papers?

OMG! It's because they don't exist!!

Quick! Get me Orley Taits on the phone!

[amuse bouche]

57. Every time

he spews his bloody clap trap, he looks the fool

[sakabatou]

60. *facepalm*

[JDPriestly]

61. British-gypsy?

I always thought the name was derived from the British word for gypsy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_Romani_people

[Mendocino]

62. Mitt, you're in a hole.

Keep digging.

You just can't make this stuff up.

[arely staircase]

64. what

does that even mean?

[Don C. Nuttin]

65. as a sheet

Last edited Fri Jul 27, 2012, 11:02 PM - Edit history (2)

Romney may have declared himself but “an ‘unofficial’ Southerner” when he said he was finding himself saying “y’all.” And “I like grits ... things are, strange things, are happening to me” was a bit on the lame side vis a vis pandering to Dixie. But, with this trip overseas, Romney is unveiling a new clarity:

“I’m white. I’m white as hell. My wife is white. You English are white, too [as far as I know]. You should stand up for your own. The guy I am running against is not English. He is NOT white. His wife is not English. She is NOT white.”

ps
“I’m white.”


I don’t know that Romney scores points in Great Britain displaying for all to see his belief that the best way to bond with everyman in Britain is to come at them the same way he believes to be effective bonding with every[white]man in Alabama. But his out-of-the-blue clarity kinda makes you proud to be an American, doesn’t it?

[qwlauren35]

72. Thank you for opening my eyes...

I didn't realize that Romney was effectively saying "Vote for Me, I'm not Black."

Isn't it nice to be able to fall back on being white as a campaign strategy. White privilege is alive and well, and racism is NOT a thing of the past.

[Quantess]

68. What?! How?

Exactly how many generations ago did his ancestors move to America? I am guessing it was several.

[charlyvi]

69. Pitiful

Just pathetic. That is all.

[lonestarnot]

70. OMG! He forgot Mexico! And don't fucking forget Poland!

[NickB79]

71. Show us the birth certificate!!! Long form only!!!

Clearly he's a plant by the Brits to retake the colonies after all these years!

[Monk06]

73. I can't wait to hear what he says when he gets to Germany. "Ich bin ein Berliner auch !!"

[notadmblnd]

76. Now that he's a British citizen, does it mean he wont be running for president?

[patrice]

77. Right Mitt is a duke from about 200 years ago since it's been the U.K. for something about that long

[LeftishBrit]

81. 'a guy from Great Britain' - thank goodness he's NOT

And if he were, he'd know that Wales is part of Great Britain, not a different country.