Mitt Romney says he isn't concerned about Donald Trump's commitment to the "birther" conspiracy, as the GOP presidential candidate today hosted a fund-raiser alongside the celebrity business magnate.
Asked on his charter plane whether Trump's questioning of President Barack Obama's birthplace gave him pause, Romney simply said he was grateful for all his supporters.
"You know, I don't agree with all the people who support me and my guess is they don't all agree with everything I believe in," Romney said. "But I need to get 50.1% or more and I'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people."
Except that The Donald is more than just a "supporter"--he is a surrogate who has recorded over 30 robocalls on behalf of Mittens. Sunday morning, George Will harrumphed that The Donald is a "bloviating ignoramus." His fellow journalists around the table giggled.
Romney has said in the past that he firmly believes Obama was born in Hawaii, and is thus constitutionally eligible to be president.
Trump, however, is decidedly less sure. The "Apprentice" host has been a vocal proponent of the "birther" conspiracy going back several years, at one point claiming he had "investigators" looking into Obama's records in Hawaii. Obama released the long-form version of his birth certificate in April 2011, showing he was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. Soon after it was released, Trump announced he would not make a bid for the GOP presidential nomination.
Trump joined Romney and former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich for a campaign fund-raiser in Las Vegas this evening. Romney's campaign also is raffling a chance to have dinner with the celebrity business magnate for supporters who donate $3 to the campaign.
"I want you: Dine with the Donald," a campaign flier proclaims, along with a drawing of Trump in the pose of Uncle Sam.
The campaign offers: "Airport transportation in the Trump vehicle; Stay at the Trump International Hotel & Tower New York; Tour the Celebrity Apprentice Boardroom; Dine with Donald Trump and Mitt Romney."
In Florida, Republican officials are feverishly working to rid the voter roll of Hispanics and Democrats ahead of the November election. Trouble is, they have purged the rolls of people who are very much alive and very much American. Two House Democrats say Gov. Rick Scott is leading a “misguided” effort to purge legal Florida voters, including a World War II veteran from Broward who was required to prove he’s a U.S. citizen. Bill Internicola was born in Brooklyn 91 years ago and received a Bronze Star for fighting in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, but, according to the state of Florida, he may not be a U.S. citizen.
Internicola received a letter in May from the Broward Supervisor of Elections stating that it received "information from the State of Florida that you are not a United States citizen; however you are registered to vote." The letter was part of a controversial state-led effort to rid the voter rolls of noncitizens. Similar letters were sent to 259 Broward voters. Their ultimate number of voters they hope to remove is around 138,000.
Internicola said he was “flabbergasted” by the suggestion that he wasn’t a citizen. He called the county’s election office and said: "Are you crazy?"
Internicola shared his story at a press conference Tuesday in Davie, where he was joined by two members of Congress: Ted Deutch (D-Boca Raton) and Alcee Hastings (D-Miramar). The Democratic lawmakers say Internicola is an example of Gov. Rick Scott’s “misguided” effort to purge legal voters from the rolls before this year’s presidential elections.
Internicola said he sent Broward a copy of his Army discharge papers. He is one of six voters on the list who have provided paperwork to prove they are citizens, said Mary Cooney, a spokeswoman for the supervisor.
Broward was following the direction of the state Division of Elections, which initially identified roughly 180,000 potential noncitizens by searching a computer database from the state’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. But the drivers’ license list doesn’t automatically update when someone becomes a citizen.
The state whittled that list to more than 2,600 voters and forwarded those names to counties. A Miami Herald analysis of the list found it was dominated by Democrats, independents and Hispanics. The largest number were from Miami-Dade, home to the state’s highest foreign-born population.
In Miami-Dade, 359 voters have provided proof that they are citizens. The county determined on its own that an additional 26 were citizens, while 10 others either admitted they were ineligible or requested to be removed.
Voters have 30 days from the receipt of the letter to provide documentation of citizenship or they will be removed from the rolls.
Any effort to remove names from Broward’s voting rolls draws particular scrutiny because it is the most Democratic county in the state. It has more than 500,000 registered Democrats and could play a pivotal role in the outcome of a close presidential or U.S. Senate contest in November.
Deutch called Internicola an “American hero” and described him as “the face of Gov. Scott’s request to purge our voter rolls."
Internicola said he was born in Brooklyn to an American-born mother and Italian-immigrant father. He traveled to several countries in Europe during World War II working as a medic where his nickname was “Pepsi” — since his last name ends with “cola.” He got married, worked as a vice president of a restaurant chain in New York, had a son and daughter, and said he moved to Florida in the 1980s.
Broward voting records show that Internicola registered in 1991 and has been a frequent voter — including the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections — and in at least a couple of municipal elections. He’s a lifelong Democrat.
We are shocked! shocked, that Florida Republicans would resort to such a thing!
* Hat tip to Amy Stewart of the Miami Herald.
Trump would not like to read this, because it dumps cold water on the birthers and removes this distraction once and for all - we hope...
Birthers need to read the law
Posted by: KS blathers the bitter truth | May 29, 2012 at 09:02 PM
Two Words: Project Veritas.
O'Keefe got ACORN defunded and we all watched as the Obama Administration looked ridiculous as they fired/rehired one of their own officials without any due diligence. Despite being warned by Breitbart that he couldn't vouch for the authenticity of the tape.
How about Voter ID and no more absentee ballots except due to military service or other legit rationale.
The Dems are just mad that the game is up on Voter Fraud. The ballots of famous public figures have been forked over to complete strangers with no ID.
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | May 30, 2012 at 05:38 AM
So you're just fine with legally registered voters being tossed because they are Hispanic, black and Democrats because we all know that Republicans are always honest. Aren't you the one who is always whining about the others on here being "partisan"? James O'Keef has been proven to be a Breitbart lacky and his accusations have been proven over and over to be fabricated. You are quite the dutiful little Republican sheeple aren't you? Republicans are just mad they cant win, so their solution is to remove as many Democratic voters as possible. Facts dont matter, just winning.
Posted by: Lenard | May 30, 2012 at 06:20 AM
"So you're just fine with legally registered voters being tossed because they are Hispanic, black and Democrats because we all know that Republicans are always honest."
Instead of bloviating, show us the evidence of your claim. You are the shameless sheeple of the left and side with the cowards to back your chutzpah. Many rank and file Democrats realize that they can't win by playing fair or by telling the truth about their agenda, so they happily resort to cheating in the voting process and factual distortions. You exposed your core beliefs when you said "Facts don't matter, just winning". You are a profile in cowardice, Lenard.
Posted by: KS | May 30, 2012 at 09:34 AM
Why does anybody try to answer these guys? The evidence for the dearth of voter fraud has been out there ever since Georgie Bush himself tried to uncover it unsuccessfully. It doesn't exist.
But they never give up. They will come back with lies and attacks; characters assassinations over fact every time. You read it over and over again on this blog.
Florida voted for a criminal for governor. Scott Walker lied to Congress and is on tape saying he's trying to divide and conquer. We had eight years of an administration which grew our deficit by trillions and under Obama it has grown 1.8%. But these people are not interested in facts. They are ideologues who would rather see this country fail than admit they're wrong. Our economy is still twice that of China's and we are by far the richest country on the planet. The one percent broke the social contract and they got richer. The middle class and poor are paying for it. And now that media is part of that one percent, the victims of Fox non-News and Rupert "the hacker" Murdock are ignorant about it all. And now they believe and continue to spread garbage about ACORN and already disspelled voter fraud. They hang on to their myths because they cannot admit when they are wrong.
A decorated veteran John Kerry is a villain. Al Gore who went to Nam and tries to stay on the leading edge of climate change and science is a villain. Jimmy Carter, a nuclear physicist and risk-taker who put solar windows in the white house because he understood science is a villain. But George "Codpiece-mission accomplished-Viet Nam (Oh, I missed that one)" Bush is a hero.
"Cheating in the voting rocess"-KS.
Prove it, KS. Where's the beef?
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 30, 2012 at 10:53 AM
And where is our Attorney General anyway?
"Romney Touts Constitutional Amendment Disqualifying Eisenhower, Roosevelt and McCain From Being President
Too inexperienced to be president
At a campaign rally in Las Vegas yesterday, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney touted the idea of making anyone who does not have a business background as ineligible for the White House as if they had been born in Kenya:
When is dumb on the right finally going to be outed?
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 30, 2012 at 10:59 AM
The GOP nominee will be chosen at the Republican National Convention in Tampa Florida in August. There is still time for chicanery.
Posted by: mw | May 30, 2012 at 11:17 AM
Think Progress is full of dog squeeze and you are lazy to not check your facts. Mitt Romney never said stuff like that. You're figuratively yelling fire in a crowded theater again - yawn.
TS, You are parroting leftwing conspiracy theories and playing the fool by doing it..
Bush was a chicken-hawk. What does that have to do with voter fraud ? More drivel...
Posted by: KS | May 30, 2012 at 12:07 PM
"We had eight years of an administration which grew our deficit by trillions and under Obama it has grown 1.8%. But these people are not interested in facts. "
Because your so-called facts are bold-faced lies. Robert Nutting - who put forth that myth has his facts dead wrong. Even the WaPo Fact checker refuted his assertions and gave Obama 3 pinocchios for parroting that outrageous bullshit. More laziness or cowardice- fear to check the facts yourself. I'll bring them if you squeal loud enough.,
C'mon, TS you are slipping into the abyss with your so-called seeking.
Posted by: KS blathers the bitter truth | May 30, 2012 at 12:16 PM
Where's the beef, KS? I've asked twice now. All I get is character assassination.
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 30, 2012 at 12:12 PM
facts are stubborn things, TS, Nutting was wrong. Check the Washington Post fact checker.
and by the way, if you are gonna demand folks bring forth facts to support assertions made on this blog, you need to play by the same rules yourself.
goose gander sort of thingie. okay?
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | May 30, 2012 at 12:30 PM
Bloviating: anything that disagrees with KS' mindset. Doesn't leave much to talk about.
Posted by: Lenard | May 30, 2012 at 12:45 PM
Yeah, Romney never said it!!!
Posted by: Lenard | May 30, 2012 at 12:50 PM
Amercia the beautiful! It seems Romney's app team has taken spelling lessons for the tea party. Only in Amercia!!
Posted by: Justindignation | May 30, 2012 at 01:13 PM
I'll bite, KS. What are the facts? You say mine are wrong so what are the real ones?
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 30, 2012 at 02:43 PM
"Romney Touts Constitutional Amendment Disqualifying Eisenhower, Roosevelt and McCain From Being President"
Hey Lenard - Nice try, but that wasn't even Romney talking about the so-called constitutional requirement- he was referring to another business owner who told him this when he spoke. You should go back and watch those before you broadcast them falsely. Think Progress are nothing but a bunch of hacks and liars whose strings are pulled by George Soros. They don't even get their stories right. IDIOTS!
Posted by: uir | May 30, 2012 at 02:49 PM
Yes, that's called "touting" or promoting an idea. I wonder why he touted the idea? What do you think?
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 30, 2012 at 02:55 PM
may God Blees Donald Trump. Our big man about townis helping to raise millions for Romney.
Posted by: Reverend B,T, "Tommy" Beamer, (Tommy008's uncle) | May 30, 2012 at 03:49 PM
Talk Radio should be discussing the Pres Obama Kill List and his further expansion of unilateral presidential power.
IF this was Pres Bush, imagine the wailing (wasn't it Sparky who decried the USAPATRIOT Act surveillance of the Bush years?) yet because of the D by his name, he'll get little comment on this blog.
"The leader of the government regularly sits down with his senior generals and spies and advisers and reviews a list of the people they want him to authorize their agents to kill. They do this every Tuesday morning when the leader is in town. The leader once condemned any practice even close to this, but now relishes the killing because he has convinced himself that it is a sane and sterile way to keep his country safe and himself in power. The leader, who is running for re-election, even invited his campaign manager to join the group that decides whom to kill."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/31/opinion/too-much-power-for-a-president.html?_r=1
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | May 31, 2012 at 07:24 AM
now why in the hell would the president invite his campaign manager to sit in on this?
for what purpose?
the test for this is to ask, if this was pres bush would i be worried if he had this power and would invite karl rove -during an election year- to sit in on these meetings?
c'mon truthseeker, you can't be comfortable with this. or is it acceptable if it is a democrat?
you make many demands on others, what say you?
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | May 31, 2012 at 07:27 AM
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Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 31, 2012 at 11:37 AM
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Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | May 31, 2012 at 11:47 AM
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Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 31, 2012 at 11:59 AM
actually, i am illustrating the poverty of your arguments.
when facts come to play, you tend to dance away.
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | May 31, 2012 at 04:20 PM
I heard that Axelrod was booed out in Boston by Anti-Obama protesters today. Axel-rod bloviated that those booing couldn't handle the truth.
Back at ya - Axel - you can't handle the truth because you avoid it at all costs with your quasi-baffling jingoistic bullshit !
Posted by: KS blathers the bitter truth | May 31, 2012 at 05:24 PM
golly, you told him
Posted by: Preston | May 31, 2012 at 05:38 PM
"The Justice Department sent a letter to Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner Thursday evening demanding the state cease purging its voting rolls because the process it is using has not been cleared under the Voting Rights Act.
DOJ also said that Florida’s voter roll purge violated the National Voter Registration Act, which stipulates that voter roll maintenance should have ceased 90 days before an election, which given Florida’s August 14 primary, meant May 16.
Five of Florida’s counties are subject to the Voting Rights Act, but the state never sought permission from either the Justice Department or a federal court to implement its voter roll maintenance program. Florida officials said they were trying to remove non-citizens from the voting rolls, but a flawed process led to several U.S. citizens being asked to prove their citizenship status or be kicked off the rolls.
Six members of Congress wrote Gov. Rick Scott earlier this week demanding that he stop purging the state’s voting rolls since the process improperly flagged numerous individuals who were eligible to vote.
“To enable us to meet our responsibility to enforce federal law, please inform us by June 6 of the action that the State of Florida plans to take concerning the matters discussed in this letter,” Christian Herren, chief of the voting section of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, wrote in the letter. “Specifically, please advise whether the State intends to cease the practice discussed above, so that the Department can determine what futher action, if any, is necessary.”
Posted by: sparky | May 31, 2012 at 05:54 PM
Seems that the DOJ supports voter fraud, Why were the citizens exempted from voting - they should be verified and reinstated if that was a mistake, by why stop the whole process ? How transparent.
Impeach Holder !
Posted by: KS | May 31, 2012 at 06:53 PM
i don't think illegal Hispanic voters are going to be enough to pull Obama through ahead of Romney on Wednesday morning this time around, although i know that's part of their game plan. He blew it with legal Hispanic American leaders and voters when he failed to push amnesty through during his first two years when he had total control of Congress . Many will vote for Romney, many other simply won't vote.
Posted by: Reverend Beamer | May 31, 2012 at 07:47 PM
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Posted by: Frank | May 31, 2012 at 08:06 PM
'...Generally speaking the rule of thumb in political campaigns is that most people will have made up their minds about the economy by midsummer....." Yahoo Finance.....the article says voters get pre-occupied with vacations and backtoschool crap after that period.....right now is when Obama needs to be churning out strong jobs numbers...doesnt look like its happening.....massive fail for Fauxbama....that's why i say it won't be close enough for some of their sneaky little plans to work
Posted by: Reverend B.T. "Tommy" Beamer (Tommy008's uncle) | June 01, 2012 at 05:36 AM
May jobs numbers just in and oh boy are they stinking up the joint- "69,000 new jobs....fewest new jobs in a year...unemployment rate ticks up....."..........massive fail by Team Fauxbama
Posted by: Tommy008 (tagteaming comments with uncle from France, poolside) | June 01, 2012 at 05:43 AM
Prove fraud, KS. Quit dancing and prove it.
Posted by: Truth-seeker | May 31, 2012 at 09:33 PM
Quit reading fictitious statements that I never said. Prove fraud before an election ? Get real, dude.
I am not retreating from my original statement.
I challenge you to check the number of voters in FLA (153,000) that had to be removed from the voter rolls to remove dead people and illegal voters, then ask yourself why the Fed is trying to stop this not only in FLA but in all other states attempting to clean their voter rolls. Are you remedial when it comes to being able to connect the dots ?
TS, Can you prove that the DOJ cares about stopping voter fraud ? When you answer that, I'll supply the counter argument. The ball is in your court.
Posted by: KS | June 01, 2012 at 07:43 AM
May jobs numbers just in and oh boy are they stinking up the joint- "69,000 new jobs....fewest new jobs in a year...unemployment rate ticks up....."..........massive fail by Team Fauxbama
Posted by: Tommy008 (tagteaming comments with uncle from France, poolside) | June 01, 2012 at 05:43 AM
T008, you know that it isn't fair to Pres Obama. He can hardly expect by the end of his first term to have brought unemployment down under 8 percent. It's all George Bush's fault ---dog whistle starts--- and you understand that the liberal knee jerk reflex will be kicking in to defend the 8 percent UNEMPLOYMENT rate as not too bad. Along with Gas prices....and lets not talk about that kill list' Pres Obama continues with...
It's all Bush's fault. dog whistle at full steam...
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | June 01, 2012 at 08:02 AM
hey look, it didn't take long. the whitehouse explanation is this: blame bush
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/06/01/employment-situation-may
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | June 01, 2012 at 08:12 AM
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Posted by: Truth-seeker | June 01, 2012 at 10:18 AM
Hahaha! Brad from Brad's Blog just said that not one fraudulent vote was ever cast by ACORN because ACORN filtered out fraudulent registrations themselves. But, Newt Gringrich turned in 30,000 fraudulent registrations himself in Virginia or on Brad Blog or check out Virginia Attorney General...
And California? This makes the Republicans look real honest compared to ACORN.
You know, KS, you really need to change the station. Really you do. You're so worried about democracy and voter fraud? Clean up your own house before you buy into the guilt of 182,000 good democrats, hispanics and african-americans. You hate democracy don't you?
Posted by: Truth-seeker | June 01, 2012 at 10:54 AM
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Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | June 01, 2012 at 11:45 AM
you got some answers to put forth yourself, TS.
start off with the answer to Bryan Suits for one.
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | June 01, 2012 at 11:46 AM
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Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | June 01, 2012 at 11:45 AM
for pointing out that truth seeker likes to dance around the answers? the comparison to fred astaire is apt. take off the partisan blinders and act as a broker in good faith.
how about this for a policy, if a poster is going to be asking others provide answers that said poster should be required to do so. if not, they are engaging in trolling.
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | June 01, 2012 at 12:12 PM
and another thing, can you post ala george carlin 'the seven words' that blatherwatch won't let you post?
that way we won't be stumbling into the filter.
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | June 01, 2012 at 12:27 PM
You know, KS, you really need to change the station. Really you do. You're so worried about democracy and voter fraud? Clean up your own house before you buy into the guilt of 182,000 good democrats, hispanics and african-americans. You hate democracy don't you?
Posted by: Truth-seeker | June 01, 2012 at 10:54 AM
I don't watch Fox News, BTW. Keep changing the argument, TS; I challenge you to rise above being a partisan hack- go ahead and surprise us. So far you have not succeeded.
The ball is your court to back up what you wrote above. Brad's blog has no credibility and fails the smell test - is that all you have ? You hate honest elections, don't you because you are afraid the progressives will lose.
Posted by: KS | June 01, 2012 at 05:29 PM
:Brad from Brad's Blog just said that not one fraudulent vote was ever cast by ACORN because ACORN filtered out fraudulent registrations themselves. But, Newt Gringrich turned in 30,000 fraudulent registrations himself in Virginia or on Brad Blog or check out Virginia Attorney General..."
That's old news (12.28/11) and did not happen and Brad lacks investigative ability. Newt did not qualify for being on the ballot in VA in the GOP primary. Sloppy proofreading once again, TS. You are grasping at straws and once again your argument falls apart.
You hate democracy don't you?
Posted by: Truth-seeker | June 01, 2012 at 10:54 AM
Au contrere. I like honest elections, unlike you. Why do you keep defending voter fraud ?
Posted by: KS | June 01, 2012 at 05:36 PM
No, we cant post such a list. The Mighty BW crew can't use those words either cuz it's a TypePad thing. Even if we posted such a list, it wouldn't show up.
To the new people here who might not be aware of the BW policies per Mr. Hood: adhominems, off-topic trolling, and baiting other posters just to get a reaction will most likely get your post removed. This is the standard policy for many blogs. Please continue to stand up for what you think is right. Disagree with each other. But we try to appeal to a large and varied audience of all ages so keep it family friendly as much as possible.
And Mr. Suits, talk radio has not generated much news in the last few months. When we hear of something, thanks mostly to the people who send Mr. Hood the latest radio gossip or announcements, we post it.
Posted by: The BW Crew | June 01, 2012 at 05:53 PM
you could easily link it to a separate page.
just a word doc with the words that will get your post flagged. won't interfere with typepad at all.
i stayed within established bounds yet still got my posts removed.
we depend on the BW Crew to be honest brokers if this page is going to work. michael may not have agreed with the posted comment but he was a straight shooter.
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | June 01, 2012 at 06:09 PM
I don't have to back it up I gave you three sources. Refute them if you can. Old news or new news, it still happened.
Or are you agreeing that the only fraud was on the right?
Posted by: Truth-seeker | June 01, 2012 at 06:11 PM
i think now we can find out if BW Crew will be an honest broker in the tradition of B'lam.
BW, ball is in your court.
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | June 01, 2012 at 07:03 PM
"I don't have to back it up I gave you three sources. Refute them if you can. Old news or new news, it still happened."
Your sources are suspect and irrelevant as I stated earlier, since it was inconsequential - Newt was not eligible in the VA primary, besides I didn't trust him anyway. The crap you threw against the wall didn't stick - try again if you wish.
"Or are you agreeing that the only fraud was on the right?"
Posted by: Truth-seeker | June 01, 2012 at 06:11 PM
LMAO ! The left is more frequently involved in voter fraud - the right has been found to be guilty of it too. As long as ACORN or a derivative of it is out there registering voters, the Dems will have a decided edge on voter fraud - keep your head where the sun don't shine if you think they don't engage it that - what a joke !
Neither two parties are really working for the people - in case you hadn't noticed - which you probably didn't notice about the Democratics. At least I can say the GOP are at fault for something. Still waiting for you to blame the Democratic Party for something - yeah that will happen, when pigs fly..
Posted by: KS blathers the bitter truth | June 01, 2012 at 07:07 PM
The left is more frequently involved in voter fraud
Back it up. You can't, can you? All you do is character assassination. Put your facts where your mouth is.
Should be simple.
Posted by: Truth-seeker | June 01, 2012 at 09:06 PM
Back at ya. There you go again - accusing people of doing what you do and dancing away...
"are you agreeing that the only fraud was on the right?"
You brought it up first, so either back it up or put a sock in it. I'll respond once you do. The ball is back in your court.
Posted by: KS blathers | June 01, 2012 at 09:54 PM
see that is going on, BW Crew.
truthseeker is playing the role of the troll.
is this the kind of blog you want to run?
Posted by: Puget Sound Blathers | June 02, 2012 at 06:18 AM