Romney Denies Vowing No Muslims In Cabinet

Republican Presidential Hopeful Disputes Account By Muslim Businessman

(CBS)  This story was written by CBS News' Scott Conroy.

---

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is facing questions about religion today. And for once, it's not his own.

Speaking to reporters after a health care forum in St. Petersburg, Florida, Romney emphatically disputed a Muslim businessman’s account of what transpired at a mid-November fundraising event in Las Vegas.

Mansoor Ijaz wrote in a Christian Science Monitor %t published today that Romney said he “cannot see that a cabinet position would be justified” for a Muslim in his administration, in light of the percentage of Muslims living in the U.S.

CBS News asked Romney to provide his version of the encounter, which occurred at an event that was closed to media.

“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 that you have to have a Muslim in the cabinet to be able to, 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,’ or something of that nature.”

Romney said that instead of filling his cabinet posts with ethnicity in mind, he would choose his cabinet members based on merit.

Asked if that included the possibility of appointing a well-qualified Muslim, Romney said, “I’m open to having people of any faith and ethnic group but they would be selected based on their capacity and their capabilities and the values and skills that they could bring to the administration, but I don’t choose people based on checking off a box.”

"I think his comment is indicative of how he might govern, and I think it’s absolutely wrong,” said Sen. John McCain, one of Romney’s rival’s for the GOP presidential nomination, after being told that Romney said he would not appoint a Muslim to his cabinet. “You appoint the most qualified people for the job, no matter who they are, where they came from…to somehow exclude any group of Americans, in my view, is, well, it just is not the way to go.”

CBS News producer Eric Salzman spoke to Ijaz on the phone today. Ijaz said that Romney’s account of the Las Vegas encounter was inaccurate and stood by what he wrote in the Christian Science Monitor. Ijaz said that he assumed the Romney camp would try to contest the account.

Ijaz also said that in the past he was a major Democratic fundraiser, but that he has been out of political fundraising since the 1990s. The Romney campaign was quick to highlight to reporters Ijaz’s ties to the Democratic Party.

“The individual who wrote that column is a Democratic Party fundraiser,“ Romney’s press secretary Eric Fehrnstrom wrote in an email. “This is a person with a partisan political agenda, and it’s surprising that the Christian Science Monitor didn’t disclose this important fact.”

The controversy came on a day when Romney spoke about health care to a crowd of about 70 people at All Children’s Hospital in Saint Petersburg, Florida.

The former Massachusetts governor began his speech by outlining some of the health care-related work he did in his consulting career and said that he has been associated with the issue for some time. Romney touted his Massachusetts health care plan, which requires everyone in the state to have health insurance or face possible penalties, and said that he thinks it would be a great model for other states to emulate.

Romney took a reporter’s question about Rudy Giuliani’s claim that Romney has not stood by his record as governor as an opportunity to reopen the increasingly bitter back-and-forth attacks between the two leading GOP candidates.

“I’m very proud of my record and actually as you can probably tell here today, I basically talk about my record everywhere I go,” Romney said. “I’m very proud of our health care system that we were able to improve in Massachusetts. I’m proud of the fact that I turned in a $2 billion rainy day fund at the end of my term in office. He turned in a $3 billion budget gap … I think Mayor Giuliani has a fact problem which is meaning that he makes them up.”

[infidel_us]

He has my vote. And if he promises to kick the illegals out, I''ll even send his campaign the maximum personal donation!

[one_american]

Romney is the most honest and fair politician I have ever heard in all my years.

The fact that Mansoor Ijaz chose to take issue with Romney just illustrates how some Muslims will seethe and whine in order to get their way; they are like parasites feeding on the American government in order to spread radical Islam.

[gkc99]

Will Romnuts promise to name his teddy bear "Muhammed"?

[one_american]

Posted by FloydZepp at 05:17 PM : Nov 27, 2007

Ask a question that doesn''t start with a lie.

[one_american]

"The real threat to America is the spreading of Radical Freakvangelicalism...."

Posted by FloydZepp at 05:19 PM : Nov 27, 2007

Is that your specialty?

[one_american]

"One_American, what lie?..."

Posted by FloydZepp at 05:20 PM : Nov 27, 2007


Now you are playing stupid, aren''t you?

It fits.

[kevboom]

Why would Romney deny it? Like this would offend anyone willing to vote for him anyway. Please.

[walt1944-2009]

Mitt Romney has attempted to clarify his remarks about Muslims not being a part of his administration if by some miracle he is elected to the position of Emperor.

Using the corporate double-speak of "that maybe what I said, but its not what I meant!", Romney really intended to say that he would not bring Muslims into his court, UNLESS they decided to convert to Mormonism. In that event, "the Mitt" together with the Mormom Church would use everything in their power (including their hefty influence) to provide for the potential convert''s comforts and future.

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!

[freods]

So what''s wrong with no Muslims in the cabinet. It''s like saying no racists in the cabinet. Hey, we are all kufirs to Muslims, less than human, to be used and exploited at their whim. Don''t believe me? Check out Hitler''s buddy the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Check out the Muslim regiments who fought with the Nazis. Wake up, folks. Read some history. Our Muslim friends have a final solution in store for all of us so why would anyone put one in the cabinet.

[winchesterma]

Would it have been appropriate if a Muslim vowed not to include a Mormon? What about naming a teddy bear after Christian saint? I''m tired of this.

[rohink-2009]

Personally, I''m not planning on voting for Romney, but.....

````````

Using the corporate double-speak of "that maybe what I said, but its not what I meant!", Romney really intended to say that he would not bring Muslims into his court, UNLESS they decided to convert to Mormonism. In that event, "the Mitt" together with the Mormom Church would use everything in their power (including their hefty influence) to provide for the potential convert''''s comforts and future.

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!

Posted by walt1944

`````````

He answered the question. Who are you to say what he really means. Where did he say that someone would have to convert to Mormonism in order to be in his cabinet? Can you personally climb into someone''s mind to decipher what he really meant? How utterly amazing.

[winchesterma]

Would it be appropriate for a Muslim to vow not to include a Christian in his cabinet? What about naming a teddy bear after a Christian saint? I''m getting tired of this.

[feelfree1]

Get it right CBS.

He didn''t say no Muslims.

He said no brown people period.

[simivalleyca]

I think every candidate should declare if he or she would have muslims in their cabinet. Because I would NEVER vote for that candidate. Muslims cannot be trusted to put the interests of America before their barbaric, bloody, ridiculous primitive religion. Mormons at least have a long history of loyal patriotic service to America. You psychotic fundamentalist Christians, who like to call Mormonism a cult are no better than the Muslims. In my opinion.

[feelfree1]

Re: The Chevron "human energy" campaign.

We know that Chevron profited prior to the latest invasion of Iraq, by giving kickbacks to Saddam in exchange for business favors-

%u201CChevron settles Iraq kickback charges%u201D

%u201CChevron Corp. has agreed to pay $30 million (U.S.) to settle charges it made illegal kickbacks to Iraq for oil purchased in 2001 and 2002 under the United Nation''s oil-for-food program.%u201D

www.thestar.com/printArticle/276611

And we know, of course that Chevron has made a fortune from the illegal invasion. But I am wondering about this %u201Chuman energy%u201D campaign. By "human energy", is Chevron talking about the energy that it expends to torture, murder, and rape people, in their efforts to maximize profits:

"Chevron is one of the largest foreign investors in Burma and is the only remaining major U.S. corporation with a significant presence there. In 2005, Chevron bought the company Unocal weeks after the latter settled a lawsuit accusing it of assisting the Burmese military junta in the torture, murder and rape of villagers during construction of a pipeline."

www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/1454252

...or are they proposing the idea of squeezing oil out of humans, directly?

[geezer62]

FloydZepp
Don''t waste your time trying to have a meaningful dialogue with America_one. You''ll do better to argue with a post. This guy will not listen to any kind of arguement unless you completely agree with him. I think he has OD''ed on The Rush Man.

[meatpieandta]

The media have been very successful stimulating the anti-Muslim attitudes. Not that some of the cretins don''t deserve it, but the general way that Muslims are portrayed is rather bad.

[b0ludo]

I thought Romney was a wimp, but if he has the cojones to be up-front about our enemies, despite misguided Political Correctness, he''s got my vote!

[kansas1946]

%u201CHis 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, %u2018No I don%u2019t think that you have to have a Muslim in the cabinet to be able to, 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,%u2019 or something of that nature.%u201D
*********************************
I am not a Romney fan, and I would never vote for him, but I think this is nonsense and if I were him, I wouldn''t spend much time justifying it. I think it is just some lame attempt to make him look intolerant, which he may be, but this BS certainly doesn''t show it.

[rohink-2009]

The media have been very successful stimulating the anti-Muslim attitudes. Not that some of the cretins don''''t deserve it, but the general way that Muslims are portrayed is rather bad.

Posted by meatpieandta

``````````````

The media is portraying them unjustly? It certainly wouldn''t have anything to do with their actions. I thought the "media" just presented the news? In Africa, a school teacher is facing up to 6 months in prison and 40 lashes for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Mohammed. In France, Muslims are rioting again because to "youths were speeding on a motorbike and ran into a police car and were killed. In Denmark and all over the world Muslims rioted because the were offended by some cartoons. And of course they are appeased because of fear. And as for the media portraying them that way, I don''t think so. The media called the Muslims rioting in France "youths". Doesn''t sound so bad when you call them youths does it?

[trewsx11]

And YET ANOTHER Romney flip-flop. This would be flip flop #632 in this primary alone.

Why am I not surprised?

[rohink-2009]

The media have been very successful stimulating the anti-Muslim attitudes. Not that some of the cretins don''''t deserve it, but the general way that Muslims are portrayed is rather bad.

Posted by meatpieandta

``````````````

The media is portraying them unjustly? It certainly wouldn''t have anything to do with their actions. I thought the "media" just presented the news? In Africa, a school teacher is facing up to 6 months in prison and 40 lashes for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Mohammed. In France, Muslims are rioting again because to "youths were speeding on a motorbike and ran into a police car and were killed. In Denmark and all over the world Muslims rioted because the were offended by some cartoons. And of course they are appeased because of fear. And as for the media portraying them that way, I don''t think so. The media called the Muslims rioting in France "youths". Doesn''t sound so bad when you call them youths does it?

[DrColes]

Islamic Fascism declared war against the U.S. and all non-Islamic nations. The truth is the truth. Why would any free human want to suppress this? http://tinyurl.com/2znnvl

[DaveGress]

This one thing that I could agree with Romney on. NO MUSLIMS in any US cabinet (but than again I don''t want any religious nuts in any office). But he appears to be to gutless to say it in public.

[starleo146]

Never will you meet a bigger LIAR running for President than Mitt Romney. Get this: Romneys 4 sons are helping his fathers presidential bid. Mitt recently touted this as his "sons service to their country to get him elected, similar to US soldiers serving in Iraq." Seems to me that we are dealing with a family of cowards, swindlers, and used car salesmen. Thanks to Mitt Rommel and his 4 sons for serving their country by putting their Mormon Cult before country..



Posted by neoconism at 07:14 PM : Nov 27, 2007


I just can not believe that a man running for president, who is suppose to govern all Americans would say such a thing. If we start eliminating this American group because of their authenticity who will be next Baptist, Methodist Mormons.If they are law biding American citizen Muslim or no that was wrong to say and only hurts the good Muslims in this country.

[starleo146]

Get it right CBS.

He didn''''t say no Muslims.

He said no brown people period.

Posted by FeelFree1 at 06:12 PM : Nov 27, 2007


Are you serious Feel free he said all brown people the misleading media and Romney should be ashamed. do you think?

[bobgee_1999]

I have no intention of voting for Romney, but "neoconism" has no idea what he''s talking about. Living in the American Southwest, I know firsthand that Mormons are intensely patriotic. In fact, they believe that the U.S. Constitution is literally a divinely inpired document. While I wouldn''t go that far, it is not an offensive view to those of us who grasp the importance of the Constituion.

[jerr11]

First he said yes, then he said no, then he said yes.

Sounds like a flipflop to me.

[rudy654-2009]

What do radical Mormons and radical Muslims have in common? Hint: 1857 and 2001.

[sgtrds]

Romney is as slick as every bad used car salesman and corrupt lawyer you co0uld ever meet. He oozes into a room, lies and then oozes back out, leaving a trial of slime like a slug.

[feelfree1]

starleo146,

Re: "Are you serious Feel free..."

No. That was sarcasm.

[kaosktrl]

Why would anyone want or need a muslim on the payroll?

Muslims like to say "Islam forbids the killing of innocent people" but Islamic scripture makes it crystal clear only muslims are innocent.
Really Ive been asking for months No muslim can provide any proof.

http://www.topix.com/forum/religion/islam/TN2693A8HGDG60TRA

[rowdytexan2]

His statement could have been taken out of context to mean something else, but I seriously doubt this man will have anybody in his cabinet that doesn''t embrace neoconism and elitism. Pro''bly heavy on the elitism.

Always be suspicious of a guy with a shiney forehead...usually means his quotes are over priced, lol

[denn034]

Romney''s willingness to consider a Muslim is a good thing because, there are many patriotic Muslims in America. One does have to be careful because, there are also many that hate America as well in America.

[plc4ever]

this has got to be the most pathetic forum i have ever read from. Everyone of you people actually think that Mitt Romney said that he would not appoint any Muslims to his cabinet. NEWSFLASH!! he never said anything even close to that, when asked "if he had to have a Muslim in his cabinet to understand and help fight the war on terrorism and islamic-extremism" he replied " no, i don''t think you have to have a Muslim in your cabinet but that he would not exclude anyone because they happened to be Muslim and that he would appoint people not based on ethnicity but rather based on merit" I often wonder how such ignorant people such as the ones commenting on this forum who base thier opinions on such blatant lies from well known Democratic operatives can even make it through the day without walking out into traffic or right off of a cliff

[stezzer]

Why is everyone in the world so afraid of upsetting Muslims, when it''s clear they have no such compunction?

There is another story today about a British female teacher facing 40 lashes for naming a teddy bear Muhammad, while working in a Sudanese school.

Does this Islamic country care one jot what the west thinks? No. So why do we feel the obligation to crawl and worry about what they think?

[frb01]

My message to Mitt, he needs to do a speech on his Mormon faith just like JFK did on being Catholic. Romney has to deal with all the flip-flop issues, he doesn''t need to have his faith running against him as well. I would rather have this then to see us having to watch Bubba come out of church holding a Bible after his affair with Monica.

[yongamerica]

Mit Romney didn''t say there would be no Muslims in his cabinet, he said there wouldn''t be any non Christians in his cabinet. This give Muslims equal footing with Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, Wiccans and Scientologists.

[b-easy63]

LOL. Next time...GET IT ON TAPE. Allen would have never admitted to Macacaing that Indian dude--if it had not been on tape. GET IT ON TAPE or shut up and leave it alone. Everyone knows candidates will say crazy stuff, but without the tape, it is a matter of hearsay and that won''t fly in this political race.

[b-easy63]

Thanks to Mitt Rommel and his 4 sons for serving their country by putting their Mormon Cult before country..
Posted by neoconism at 09:12 PM : Nov 27, 2007

Then they are just continuing in the grand traditions of Cheney and Bush-- the last two Republicans in the White house who had more important things to do than fight a war .....the GOP legacy continues, eh?

When you vote for snakes, never have expectations higher than the slither factor--cuz ya just showed what you will tolerate and put in the job. LOL

[roger_inkart]

I often wonder how such ignorant people such as the ones commenting on this forum who base thier opinions on such blatant lies from well known Democratic operatives can even make it through the day without walking out into traffic or right off of a cliff

Posted by plc4ever at 08:55 PM : Nov 27, 2007

Or go around starting pointless wars on trumped reasons, wasting billions, ruining our credibility, allienating our allies, enabling terrorists and causing the death of coutless of innocents.

But hey, get all worked up over it slick if you want to. Lord knows your side NEVER does this sort of thing (rolls eyes.)

[drivelphobe]

There is no place in this country for any muslim, let alone on some cabinet. They are here to overthrow our country, and as innocent as they may appear, they are just waiting for the call to Jihad. Romney knows this so his answer is politically okay. It''s clear from his response that he wouldn''t put a muslim anywhere but on a flight home.

[tbaug-2009]

Never will you meet a bigger LIAR running for President than Mitt Romney. Get this: Romneys 4 sons are helping his fathers presidential bid. Mitt recently touted this as his "sons service to their country to get him elected, similar to US soldiers serving in Iraq." Seems to me that we are dealing with a family of cowards, swindlers, and used car salesmen. Thanks to Mitt Rommel and his 4 sons for serving their country by putting their Mormon Cult before country..
__________________________________
Posted by neoconism at 07:14 PM : Nov 27, 2007

His statement could have been taken out of context to mean something else, but I seriously doubt this man will have anybody in his cabinet that doesn''''t embrace neoconism and elitism. Pro''''bly heavy on the elitism.

Always be suspicious of a guy with a shiney forehead...usually means his quotes are over priced, lol

________________________________________
Posted by RowdyTexan2 at 08:45 PM : Nov 27, 2007
What do radical Mormons and radical Muslims have in common? Hint: 1857 and 2001.

________________________________________
Posted by rudy654 at 08:07 PM : Nov 27, 2007

Geez, you people are seriously retarded and repeat yourselves way to much too... Everything you idiots spew is so completely moronic that if it wasn''t so sad; it would be comical. Do you seriously not see the forest???

[tbaug-2009]

Hey neoconism; get some facts in your life, quit being so liberal and angry, stop labeling and being the new generation of narrow-minded people. You''re as wrong as those backward, racist, thugs in the 50''s.

[oleander8]

Well this is a non-story....

[njpaul2-2009]

So many of these comments are from soldiers of the Clinton attack machine. It''s the same stuff, day after day, and so much of it is distorted. It would be nice to actually read a piece now and then that is balanced and intelligent. Look at the country''s problems, do your homework, and you''ll see that Romney, more than any other candidate, brings skills that will benefit us all. The Clinton people know Hillary can''t hold her own in debates with Romney, so they want him out before it gets to that point. The US economy is headed for trouble if Hillary is in the driver seat. Romney understands economies, and he won''t give away the store to China, Russia, and half the world like too many presidents have done. That matters to anyone who wants our standard of living to quit dropping lock a rock. Romney will know what he''s talking about when he sits down with other nations, who generally are far better negotiators than we are.

[jw218389]

Mormon/Muslim what''s the difference??

Romney only said what all NeoCons believe. Trouble is he''s a religious minority in his own party.

He will not win... Not unless he''s recently been initiated into "Skull & Bones.

[rm792vjr333]

News, folks! We are not, never have been a third world Muslim nation! We have a Constitution which says that we have a Creator. Like it or not, we are a Christian nation. Our country is full of terrorist cells just waiting for their big chance, such as infiltrating our government. Come to think of it, a few spies have already been found working in our fed. gov. who are illegal aliens from Pakistan. Oh, and the terrorist groups'' spokesmen say they would like it if we got a Democrat appeaser president!

[ubrew12]

oleander8 said: "Well this is a non-story...."

Ya got that right. Romney gave the right answer to a baited question. Thanks to the questioner for trying to derail what should be a useful debate. Just cuz the neocon''s soiled themselves with their ''swiftboating'' of J. Kerry in 2004, doesn''t mean the rest of us need to demean ourselves the same way.

(BTW, alot of neocon''s thought they''d won the swiftboating debate cuz GW got re-elected. All I can say is ''penny-wise, pound-foolish''. The problem with their nearterm thinking is: GW GOT RE-ELECTED!'' The folly of that is apparent to all of us right about now)

[ez4me2sa]

It was a loaded question. Romney''s reply was perfect. Way to go, Mitt!