Republican
presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Thursday was confronted by an angry heckler
who accused him of "politicizing" the death of the top U.S. diplomat in Libya to
gain an advantage over President Barack Obama.
On Tuesday, U.S.
ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and at least three members of his staff were
killed during protests over a film that mocked the Prophet Mohammad and was
promoted by Terry Jones, a U.S. pastor who had previously sparked deadly riots
threatening to burn Qur'ans.
"It's disgraceful that the Obama
administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic
missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks," Romney said.
That initial
statement from the former Massachusetts governor and his press conference later
in the day were both panned as "irresponsible" and "craven."
Although Romney
toned down his criticism of the president the next day at a campaign stop in
Fairfax, Virginia, one heckler refused to forgive the candidate.
"Why are you politicizing Libya?" the man screamed. "Why are you politicizing Libya?"
At that point, Romney supporters in the crowd began to chant "U-S-A!" and "Mitt! Mitt!"
The Associated
Press reported that supporters also attempted to cover the man's face with a
Romney-Ryan campaign sign, but he ripped it up and left the event. Raw
Story
Romney faced
heavy criticism from across the political spectrum for statements issued on
Tuesday evening and repeated at a press conference on Wednesday morning in which
he accused the Obama administration of being too ready to apologize for American
values. Guardian Romney on
Wednesday had used the death of Stevens to score political points by accusing
Obama of "sympathizing" with the enemy after the U.S. embassy in Libya released
a statement condemning the anti-Muslim film. Raw Story The violence in
Benghazi followed protests in neighboring Egypt where protesters scaled the
walls of the Cairo embassy and tore down the American flag and burned it during
protests over what demonstrators said was a U.S. film that insulted the Prophet
Mohammed. newsdaily.com Democratic
Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren on Thursday morning blasted GOP presidential
candidate Mitt Romney's criticism of the Obama administration.
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