Romney, who ran the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, ruffled feathers across the pond after suggesting in a TV interview Wednesday that London wasn’t fully ready for the Games.
"It's hard to know just how well it will turn out," Romney told NBC’s Brian Williams on Wednesday. "There are a few things that were disconcerting,” he said, citing a shortage of security officials.
British Prime Minister David Cameron didn't keep a stiff upper lip over that dig. "We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world," Cameron said Thursday at the Olympic Park in London. "Of course, it is easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere." We're pretty sure he was talking about Salt Lake.
Romney tried to walk back the comments, but his day just got worse. British reporters, known for their feistiness, likened him to the "new Sarah Palin" over this and a string of other missteps, like referring to Ed Miliband as "Mr. Leader" and name-dropping that he met with the head of MI6. The American press corps didn't have many kind words either after he snubbed them.
