Robert Gibbs: 'Mitt Romney an Embarrassment' for Olympic Comments
Robert Gibbs, senior adviser to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, has said Sunday that Mitt Romney had been an embarrassment to the U.S. for his critical account of London as an Olympic games host.
"It is hard to know just how well it will turn out," Romney said speaking about the 2012 Olympics on NBC news. "There are a few things that were disconcerting. The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials – that obviously is not something which is encouraging."
Gibbs charged Sunday that Romney should be questioning whether he is ready to be president and not whether London is ready to handle the Olympics.
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"Mitt Romney wondered aloud whether London was ready for the Olympics, and I think it's clear that voters in this country wonder aloud whether Mitt Romney is ready for the world," Gibbs said on ABC's "This Week."
British media were also offended when Romney appeared to question whether the British were actually behind the Olympic games.
"Do they come together and celebrate the Olympic moment?" Romney asked. "And that's something which we only find out once the Games actually begin."
In a later interview on Thursday morning, while speaking to Ed Miliband in Westminster Romney added that in the end the games were about the athletes and not the organizers.
"The Games are, after all, about the athletes; the volunteers and the people of the community come together to celebrate those athletes," Romney said. "They're not about the organizing committee, and as soon as the sporting events begin we all forget the organizers and focus on the athletes."
