Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks to employees at BAE Systems in Nashua, N.H., Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
(CNSNews.com) – Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is now seeking the Republican presidential nomination, complained to Fox News Special Report anchor Bret Baier after an interview on Tuesday that Baier’s questioning had been “overly aggressive” and “uncalled for,” according to Baier.
“He was irritated by the interview after we were done,” Baier said of Romney when he appeared on Fox News’s “O’Reilly Factor” on Wednesday to discuss the interview.
O’Reilly asked Baier: “How do you know he was irritated? Did he slap you? Or what did he do?”
“Well, he just made it clear at the end of the interview,” said Baier.
“Tell me how he made it clear?” asked O’Reilly. “What it is–did he say something to you?
“He said he thought it was overly aggressive,” said Baier.
“He did, he said that to you?” said O’Reilly. “He said it was overly aggressive?”
“He did,” affirmed Baier.
“And as we were walking in the walk and talk and then after he finished he went to his holding room and then came back and said he didn’t like the interview and thought it was uncalled for,” said Baier.
In the interview, Baier has asked Romney about the health-care legislation he signed in Massachusetts when he was governor–legislation that has often been likened to the national plan that President Barack Obama signed last year.
“Do you believe that that was the right thing for Massachusetts. Do you think a mandate–mandating people to buy insurance is the right tool?” Baier had asked Romney.
“Bret,” said Romney, “I don’t know how many hundred times I have said this, too. This is an unusual interview. All right. Let’s do it again. Absolutely what we did in Massachusetts was right for Massachusetts. I have said that time and time again. The people of the state continue to support it by about three to one. But it’s also designed for Massachusetts, not for the nation.”
Baier also asked Romney about an editorial in the Manchester Union Leader–New Hampshire’s largest newspaper–that endorsed Newt Gingrich for president and seemed to suggest that Romney lacked conviction.
Baier followed up on that question by listing a number of issues Romney has changed his position on and then asking the candidate how voters can trust him.
“Like the Union Leader, your critics charge that you make decisions based on political expediency and not core conviction,” said Baier. “You have been on the both sides of some issues, and there’s videotape of you going back years, speaking about different issues, climate change, abortion, immigration, gay rights. How can voters trust what they hear from you today is what you will believe if you win the White House?”
“Well, Bret, your list is just not accurate,” Romney responded. “So, one, we’re going to have to be better informed about my views on issues. My view is, you can look at what I’ve written in my book. You can look at a person who has devoted his life to his family, to his faith, to his country, and I’m running for president because of the things I believe I think I can do to help this country.”
Source material can be found at this site.
