Today, at the Value Voters Summit Republican Presidential candidate gave a speech filled with red meat to a group of social conservatives. In the midst of the speech he also denounced Bryan Fischer, who is a leading member of the American Family Association which put on the Value Voters Summit, for very bigoted statements against Muslims, Mormons as well as gay and lesbians. His rebuke was mild, partly because he didn't want to turn off socially conservative voters since Fischer's main targets are Muslims and LGBT rights. The main thrust of the rebuke is:
One of the speakers who will follow me today has crossed that line. Poisonous language does not advance our cause. It has never softened a single heart nor changed a single mind.In interviews with reporters after the speech Romney aides said that they didn't know who Bryan Fischer was until Thursday when they noticed he was speaking directly after Romney at the Values Voters Summit.
In the days before the Values Voter Summit in Washington, aides to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney grew concerned about a speaker scheduled to appear shortly after Romney's speech on Saturday morning. Before such events, campaign aides routinely check who will be speaking before and after Romney; it's normal due diligence to know if there are any speakers who might be sources of controversy. In this case, campaign aides didn't know who the after-Romney speaker, Bryan Fischer, was, but a quick Google search revealed that Fischer, an official at the American Family Association, had been quoted making a number of inflammatory statements about gays, Muslims, Mormons, and others. Another search of YouTube turned up videos of Fischer saying some of those things in front of a camera.In short, they are claiming that they figured out one day before the event that Mitt Romney would have to share the stage with one of the most bigoted members of the religious right. The Romney campaign is supposed to be the biggest and most professional presidential campaign on the Republican side.
The red flags included quotes attributed to Fischer to the effect that gay sex is the equivalent of domestic terrorism; that homosexuals shared responsibility for the Holocaust; that the Bill of Rights should not apply to people of non-Christian faiths; and that Mormons are not Christians, and the next president must be a Christian.
On Friday, a concerned Romney adviser called Bill Bennett, the radio host and former Education Secretary who was scheduled to speak before Romney and Fischer
The liberal civil rights group, People for the American Way, had a blog post a full eight days before the Values Voters Summit noting who Fischer was, that he was speaking at the event and that he was speaking directly after Mitt Romney. So which is it? Is Mitt Romney's campaign lying to reporters or are they a week behind PFAW in figuring out who was speaking directly after their candidate?