They were at Poland’s tomb of the unknown soldier; the questions were shrill, irritating, and dumb; and aide Rick Gorka lost his temper for maybe eight seconds, then apologized. Simple ingredients, but that’s all you need for a tasty summer stew of manufactured outrage that keeps the news cycle churning. September can’t get here soon enough, my friends. Alternate headline: “Conservative support for Romney now at 100 percent.”
As Romney was walking away from Pilsudski Square toward his vehicle, reporters asked him about his string of gaffes and whether he had any comment for Palestinians, some of whom took offense at the Republican’s suggestion Monday in Jerusalem that Israel’s economy is superior because of cultural advantages Israelis enjoy. Romney ignored the questions and got in his car…
“Kiss my ass; this is a holy site for the Polish people,” said aide Rick Gorka. “Show some respect.”
Gorka then told a reporter to “shove it.”
Gorka subsequently called a pair of reporters to apologize, saying he lost his cool.
The press is annoyed that he’s treating this extended photo op as an extended photo op, taking just three questions from reporters in the span of a week. (“There is a growing frustration among reporters, a growing sense that the campaign doesn’t get it — we don’t want to screw you, we just want to do our job.”) Say what you will about Romney’s retail political instincts, but even he can’t miss an opportunity as golden as having the media mad at him:
Mitt Romney on Tuesday accused the media of looking to protect President Obama by focusing on the GOP candidate’s high-profile gaffes during his week-long foreign tour rather than more substantive policy issues he discussed.
“I realize that there will be some in the fourth estate or in whichever estate who are far more interested in finding something to write about that is unrelated to the economy, to geo-politics, to the threat of war, to the reality of conflict in Afghanistan today, to a nuclearization of Iran,” Romney told Fox News. “They’ll instead try to find anything else to divert from the fact that these last four years have been tough years for our country.”
DeMint once said Romney’s picking up conservatism as a second language. He may not be fluent yet, but media criticism proves that he can at least conjugate his verbs. Baby steps.
Exit question via Dana Loesch: If it’s rude to interrupt Obama in the Rose Garden, why isn’t it rude to scream questions at Romney while on hallowed ground during a goodwill visit?
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