Romney on Rev. Wright: ‘I Stand by What I Said, Whatever It Was’

Did Mitt Romney, the likely Republican presidential nominee, just have his “John Kerry moment” of the 2012 campaign? Kerry, you may recall, famously declared of his vote against an $87 billion military funding bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan during his 2004 presidential campaign: “I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.” The quote became an instant classic and was one of the critical comments used to paint Kerry as a flip-flopper in a race he ultimately lost to George W. Bush.

Now comes a gem of a flubbed answer from Romney. During a news conference in Florida on Thursday, he was asked about remarks he made on Sean Hannity’s radio program back in February in which he criticized President Obama for listening to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Romney could not remember what it was that he had said to Hannity about Wright, but he stood by the comments nonetheless.

“I’m actually gonna — I’m not familiar precisely with exactly what I said, but I stand by what I said, whatever it was,” he said. “I’ll go back and take a look at what was said there.”

The exchange came after it was reported that a super PAC was proposing to produce ads about Wright, who is Obama’s former pastor.

For the record, Romney told Hannity: “I think again the president takes his philosophical leanings in this regard, not from ardent believers of various faiths, but instead from those who would like to see America more secular. And I’m not sure which is worse, him listening to Rev. Wright, or him saying that we must be a less Christian nation.” –TEB