The PJ Tatler » Transcript: Mitt Romney’s Press Conference on the Attacks in Egypt and Cairo (Video Added)
(Fair Use of a publicly broadcast event)
(I've cleaned up some obvious grammatical, spelling, capitalization and and punctuation errors of the transcriber -LA)
MITT ROMNEY: Good morning.
Americans woke up this morning with tragic news, and felt heavy hearts as they considered that individuals who have served in our diplomatic core were brutally murdered across the world.
This attack on American individuals and embassies is outrageous. It’s disgusting. It breaks the hearts of all of us who think of these people, who have served during their lives for the cause of freedom, and justice, and honor. We mourn their loss and join together in prayer, that the spirit of the Almighty might comfort the families of those who have been so brutally slain.
Four diplomats lost their lives, including the U.S. Ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens, in the attack on our embassy at Benghazi, Libya. And of course with these words i extend my condolences to the grieving loved ones who have been left behind as a result of these, who have lost their lives in the service of our nation. And i know that the people across America are grateful for their service, and we mourn their sacrifice.
America will not tolerate attacks against our citizens and against our embassies. We’ll defend also our constitutional rights of speech, and assembly, and religion. We have confidence in our cause in America. We respect our Constitution. We stand for the principles our Constitution protects. We encourage other nations to understand and respect the principles of our Constitution, because we recognize that these principles are the ultimate source of freedom for individuals around the world.
Possibly the administration was wrong to stand by a statement sympathizing with those who had breached our embassy in Egypt, instead of condemning their actions. It's never too early for the United States government to condemn attacks on Americans and to defend our values. The White House distanced itself last night from the statement, saying it "wasn’t cleared by Washington". That reflects the mixed signals they are sending to the world.
The attacks in Libya and Egypt underscore that the world remains a dangerous place, and that American leadership is still sorely needed. in the face of this violence, America cannot shrink from the responsibility to lead. American leadership is necessary to insure that events in the region don’t spin out of control. We cannot hesitate to use our influence in the region to support those who share our values and our interests.
Over the last several years we’ve stood witness to an "Arab spring" that presents an opportunity for a more peaceful and prosperous region, but also poses the potential for perfidy if the forces of extremism and violence are allowed to control the course of events. We must strive to insure that the Arab Spring does not become an Arab winter. With that, I’m happy to take any questions you may have. Steve.
REPORTER: The statement you referred to was a a toughly worded statement last night. Do you regret the tone at all, given what we know?
ROMNEY: The embassy in Cairo put out a statement after their grounds had been breached. Protestors were inside the grounds, and they reiterated that statement after the breach.
I think it's a terrible course for America to send an apology for our values. That instead, when our ground are being attacked and being breached, that the first response of the United States must be outrage at the breach of the sovereignty of our nation. And apologizing for America’s values is never the right course.
REPORTER: Governor Romney, do you think, though, coming so soon after the events really had unfolded overnight, was it appropriate to be weighing in on this as this crisis is unfolding in real time?
ROMNEY: The White House also issued a statement saying it tried to distance itself from those comments; and said they were not reflecting of their views.
I had the exact same reaction. These views were inappropriate. They were the wrong course to take when our embassy has been breached by protestors.
The first response should not be to say, yes, we standby our comments that suggest that there is something wrong with the right of free speech.
REPORTER: What did the White House do wrong, then, Governor Romney, if they put out a statement saying they disagreed with this?
ROMNEY: Their administration spoke. The President takes responsibility, not just for the words that come from his mouth, but also for the words that come from his ambassadors from his administration, from his embassies, from the State Department. They clearly sent mixed messages to the world, and the statement that came from the administration, and the embassy is the administration. The statement that came from the administration was a statement which is akin to apology. And I think was a severe miscalculation.
REPORTER: You talk about mixed signals. The world was watching. Isn’t this assault a mixed signal when you criticize the President when Americans are being killed? Shouldn’t politics stop?
ROMNEY: We were speaking about the different courses we could take with regard to the challenges the world faces. The President and I have differences of opinion with regard to Israel and our policies there; with regards to Iran; with regards to Afghanistan; with regards to Syria. We have many distinctions and differences. We join together in the condemnation of attacks on the American embassies and the loss of American life; and join in sympathy for these people.
It’s also important for me (just as it was for the White House last night, by the way) to say that the statements were inappropriate. And in my view it's a disgraceful statement on the part of our administration to apologize for American values.
REPORTER: Governor, some people have said that you jumped the gun a little in putting that statement out last night, and you should have waited until more details were available. Do you regret having that statement come out so early, before we learned about all the things that were happening?
ROMNEY: I don’t think we should ever hesitate when we see something which is a violation of our principles. We express immediately when we feel that the President and his administration have done something which is inconsistent with the principles of America. Simply put, having an embassy which has been breached and has protestors on its grounds. Having violated the sovereignty of the United States.
Having our embassy reiterating a statement apologizing for the right of free speech, is not the right course for an administration.
REPORTER: If you had known last night that the ambassador had died, I’m gathering you did not know. That came later. If you had known that the ambassador had died?
ROMNEY: I’m not going to take hypothetical on what would have been known when and so forth. We responded last night to the events that happened in Egypt.
REPORTER: Now that foreign policy and the situation in the Middle East has been thrust into the presidential campaign, can you talk about why, specifically, you’re better qualified than President Obama to handle these specific issues?
ROMNEY: I think President Obama has demonstrated a lack of clarity as to our foreign policy. My foreign policy has three fundamental branches: First, confidence in our cause, a recognition that the principles America is based upon, is not something we shrink from or apologize for. That we stand for those principles.
The second is clarity in our purpose. Which is, when we have a foreign policy objective we describe it honestly and clearly to the American people, to Congress, and to the people of the world.
And number three, is resolve in our might. That in those rare circumstances, those rare circumstances where we decide it’s essential for us to apply military might, that we do so with force, and with clarity of mission, and with the U.S. Mission involved. And understand when it will be complete, what will be left behind us when that mission has been terminated.
These elements, I believe, are essential to our foreign policy; and I haven’t seen them from the President. As I’ve watched over the past three and a half years, the President has had some successes, he’s had some failures. It’s a hit-or-miss approach, but it has not based upon sound foreign policy.
REPORTER: How, specifically, Governor Romney, would a President Romney have handled this situation differently than President Obama? You spoke out before midnight when all the facts weren’t known. How would you have handled this differently than the President did?
ROMNEY: I spoke out when the key fact was known, which was that the Embassy of the United States issued what appeared to be an apology for American principles. That was a mistake. I believe when a mistake is made of that significance, you speak out.
