Mitt Romney has been caught in yet another lie. Only yesterday Romney’s claim of not supporting Planned Parenthood abortion mills was abruptly smashed by a photograph surfacing of him at one of their fundraisers in 1994. Today, it’s Romney’s claim that his father “marched with” famed civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.
During his “I’m a Mormona but it doesn’t matter” speech, Mitt Romney claimed he saw his father, George Romney, marching with MLK during a 1968 civil rights march through Grosse Pointe, Michigan. It was a stirring account of the efforts of his father to show that the Romney family have always reached across ecumenical lines.
Only one little problem… it never happened.
Today The Phoenix is reporting that the details of Romney’s claim just don’t match up with reality. What we end up with is just one more wild lie by Mitt Romney who will say anything at all that he thinks will help him win the nomination… even if it isn’t true.
Here’s the details according to The Phoenix.
In the most-watched speech of his political career, speaking on “Faith in America†at College Station, Texas, earlier this month, Mitt Romney evoked the strongest of all symbolic claims to civil-rights credentials: “I saw my father march with Martin Luther King.â€
He has repeated the claim several times recently, most prominently to Tim Russert on Meet the Press . But, while the late George W. Romney, a four-term governor of Michigan, can lay claim to a strong record on civil rights, the Phoenix can find no evidence that the senior Romney actually marched with King, nor anything in the public record suggesting that he ever claimed to do so.
Nor did Mitt Romney ever previously claim that this took place, until long after his father passed away in 1995 — not even when defending accusations of the Mormon church’s discriminatory past during his 1994 Senate campaign.
So, what did the Romney campaign say about the specifics?
Asked about the specifics of George Romney’s march with MLK, Mitt Romney’s campaign told the Phoenix that it took place in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. That jibes with the description proffered by David S. Broder in a Washington Post column written days after Mitt’s College Station speech.
And what do they base this claim on?
Broder, in that column, references a 1967 book he co-authored on the Republican Party, which included a chapter on George Romney. It includes a one-line statement that the senior Romney “has marched with Martin Luther King through the exclusive Grosse Pointe suburb of Detroit.â€
OK, but did MLK ever even have a march in Grosse Pointe?
But that account is incorrect. King never marched in Grosse Pointe, according to the Grosse Pointe Historical Society, and had not appeared in the town at all at the time the Broder book was published. “I’m quite certain of that,†says Suzy Berschback, curator of the Grosse Pointe Historical Society. (Border was not immediately available for comment.)
Berschback also believes that George Romney never appeared at a protest, march, or rally in Grosse Pointe. “We’re a small town,†she says. “Governors don’t come here very often, except for fundraisers.â€
Ooopsie! It’s all just another Romney lie.
There is also no record of George Romeny himself ever claiming to have marched with MLK.
It gets even worse for Mitt. There was an MLK march after the date the Romney camp claims Gov. George Romney took his stroll with the civil rights leader, but even if the Gov. marched then (and there is absolutely no newspaper or TV accounts that he did) Mitt could never have “seen” his father march because he was in France on a Mormon mission at the time.
And, Mitt Romney would not have known about the event, let alone had a chance to “see†it. He was at that time in the middle of his two-year mission for the Mormon church in Le Havre, France. By his own description and others’, he was cut off from virtually all contact with his family; and at the time, King’s Grosse Pointe appearance was no more than local news.
It all comes down to another Romney lie. After all, as the paper says:
Had George Romney ever marched with Martin Luther King Jr., it almost certainly would have been documented. From the mid-’50s through 1962, Romney was one of the country’s most prominent business leaders — for him to travel South for a civil-rights march would have been remarkable. From January 1963 on, as governor of Michigan and a presumed Presidential candidate, Romney was one of the most visible political figures in the country.
What will it take for Romney supporters to realize that their guy is a liar?
10 users commented in " Mitt Romney Lies About Father ‘Marching With Martin Luther King, Jr.’ "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackHere’s the link that impugns your claims!
http://blog.electromneyin2008.com/2007/12/20/despite-accounts-otherwise-george-romney-did-march-with-martin-luther-king-jr/
So STOP IT!!!
As a young man I was at the march in Grosse Pointe, Michigan and saw both George Romney and Martin Luther King get out of their cars and join arms to begin the march. As they passed by me they invited me into the march. I joined and it changed my life.
It was not a large gathering, unlike the one held in Detroit, Michigan the day before (which I also participated in as a representative of the 14th district Young Democrats.)
David Thompson: If you saw them join arms and march together, why is the Romney campaign now denying that they ever marched together? Why would the campaign say it was “figurative” if it actually happened?
It’s figurative because Mitt wasn’t at the event to be an eye witness. He knew about, maybe saw it on a news clip, heard his parents talk about it, shared letters about with his parents. The point is Mitt’s parents were very supportive of the Civil Rights movement and Mitt was raised with those same values.
I can’t believe the way the media twists things….
I’m sure Mitt will graciously accept your apology:
Detroit Free Press: “With Gov. Romney a surprise arrival and marching in the front row, more than 500 Negroes and whites staged a peaceful antidiscrimination parade up Grosse Pointe’s Kercheval Avenue Saturday. … ‘the elimination of human inequalities and injustices is our urgent and critical domestic problem,’ the governor said. … [Detroit NAACP President Edward M.] Turner told reporters, ‘I think it is very significant that Governor Romney is here. We are very surprised.’ Romney said, ‘If they want me to lead the parade, I’ll be glad to.’” (”Romney Joins Protest March Of 500 In Grosse Pointe,” Detroit Free Press, 6/29/63)
Oops.
Flaming Liar Blogger caught again.
One little problem with the liar Warner Todd Huston:
He has no appreciation for FACTS.
However, he seems well schooled in generating moonbat rubbish and name calling.
FACT: In The Summer Of 1963, Governor Romney Participated In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Freedom Marches” In Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
In 1963, George Romney Gave The Keynote Address At The Conference That Sparked The Martin Luther King “Freedom Marches” In Detroit. “The establishment of these human relations groups came in the wake of several major events (besides the embarrassing racist practices of such suburbs as Dearborn), which took place in 1963 and helped galvanize interracial support and cooperation for integrated housing. The first event was the Metropolitan Conference on Open Occupancy held in Detroit in January 1963. The second event was the Martin Luther King ‘Freedom’ March in June of the same year, the spinoffs of which were several Detroit NAACP-sponsored interracial marches into Detroit suburbs to dramatize the need for black housing. … Governor George Romney gave the keynote speech at this conference, in which he pledged to use the power of the state to achieve housing equality in Michigan.” (Joe T. Darden, Detroit, Race And Uneven Development, 1987, p. 132)
Governor Romney Marched In July 1963 In An NAACP-Sponsored March Through Grosse Pointe. “The next couple of NAACP marches into the suburbs were more pleasant. Both Grosse Pointe and Royal Oak Township welcomed the interracial marchers. Close to 500 black and white marchers, including many Grosse Pointers, marched in ‘the Pointes’ that July. Governor George Romney made a surprise appearance in his shirt sleeves and joined the parade leaders.” (Joe T. Darden, Detroit, Race And Uneven Development, 1987, p. 132)
· Detroit Free Press: “With Gov. Romney a surprise arrival and marching in the front row, more than 500 Negroes and whites staged a peaceful antidiscrimination parade up Grosse Pointe’s Kercheval Avenue Saturday. … ‘the elimination of human inequalities and injustices is our urgent and critical domestic problem,’ the governor said. … [Detroit NAACP President Edward M.] Turner told reporters, ‘I think it is very significant that Governor Romney is here. We are very surprised.’ Romney said, ‘If they want me to lead the parade, I’ll be glad to.'” (“Romney Joins Protest March Of 500 In Grosse Pointe,” Detroit Free Press, 6/29/63)
· In Their 1967 Book, Stephen Hess And David Broder Wrote That George Romney “Marched With Martin Luther King Through The Exclusive Grosse Point Suburb Of Detroit.” “He has marched with Martin Luther King through the exclusive Grosse Pointe suburb of Detroit and he is on record in support of full-coverage Federal open-housing legislation.” (Stephen Hess And David Broder, The Republican Establishment: The Present And Future Of The G.O.P., 1967, p. 107)
FACT: As Governor Of Michigan, George Romney Fought For Civil Rights And Marched In Support Of Martin Luther King Jr.
George Romney Was A Strong Proponent Of Civil Rights And Created Michigan’s First Civil Rights Commission. “The governor’s record was one of supporting civil rights. He helped create the state’s first civil rights commission and marched at the head of a protest parade in Detroit days after violence against civil rights marchers in Selma, Ala., in 1965.” (Todd Sprangler, “Romney Fields Questions On King,” Detroit Free Press, 12/20/07)
In 1967, George Romney Was Praised At A National Civil Rights Rally For His Leadership. “Michigan Gov. George Romney walked into a Negro Civil Rights rally in the heart of Atlanta to the chants of ‘We Want Romney’ and to hear protests from Negroes about city schools. ‘They had invited me to come and I was interested in hearing things that would give me an insight into Atlanta,’ the Michigan Republican said. Led by Hosea Williams, a top aide to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the all-Negro rally broke into shouts and song when Romney arrived. ‘We’re tired of Lyndon Baines Johnson,’ Williams said from a pulpit in the Flipper Temple AME Church as Romney sat in a front row pew. ‘Johnson is sending black boys to Vietnam to die for a freedom that never existed,’ Williams said. Pointing to Romney, Williams brought the crowd of 200 to its feet when he said, ‘He may be the fella with a little backbone.’ Williams said Romney could be ‘the next President if he acts right.’ The potential GOP presidential nominee left the rally before it ended.” (“Romney Praised At Civil Rights Rally In Atlanta,” The Chicago Defender, 9/30/67)
Photograph: “Dr. Martin Luther King speaking to graduate student Laura L. Leichliter (center) and Michigan’s First Lady Mrs. Lenore Romney in February 1965.” (Instructional Media Center Collection At Michigan State University Archives And Historical Collections)
One problem with all this back and forth is that this smaller march took place, I believe, the Saturday after the larger Sunday march that Martin Luther King lead but Gov. Romney abstained from due to the Sabbath. I saw somewhere that Martin Luther King was placed in another city during this Saturday march and so it is argued that he could not have attended. I am a Mitt supporter and take his comment for what it was, a statement of his non racist upbringing. What concerns me in all this are the “first hand accounts” of them being arm in arm. If it did happen then it really needs to make headline news and if it didn’t happen then at this point Mitt Romney needs to say so. I am unsettled by this and what it implies when combined with other semi inaccurate statements that Mitt Romney has made.
Romney’s ads are filled with LIES—and he is showing how easy it is for him to lie to the American people. It is about Romney’s dishonesty. If he can’t be honest in his commercials and interviews, how can we trust him with our country?
A politician who is willing to lie recklessly about minor matters is unlikely to hesitate when a lie would be useful in dealing with a major problem. Thus Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s dishonest claims about his status as “a hunter” are as troubling as they were stupid…and they were very stupid. http://www.ethicsscoreboard.com/liars/0704_romney.html
Romney is WEAK ON IMMIGRATION and hired illegal aliens himself twice, even though he is rich and could afford to hire American citizens.
Romney says he marched with his father in a Martin Luther King march, but now he says that wasn’t the truth. That he was endorsed by the NRA and he’s a lifelong hunter, but now he says, well he’s been hunting twice for rabbits and never received the NRA’s endorsement.
The race for MLK affiliation is amazing.
Hillary went to watch him with her church group.
Obama watched him on tape at some point.
Romney: ?? a poser?
DON’T LIE MARTIN LUTHER KING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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