Mitt Romney Defends The Boston Herald, Longtime Press Nemesis (AUDIO)

WASHINGTON -- Throughout most of his career, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has had what can best be described as a testy relationship with the Boston Herald.

The conservative-leaning tabloid, the Boston Globe's counter-balance of sorts, has long treated the former Massachusetts Governor as an ideological chameleon. Recent headlines from both its news and editorial side range from "Just one more reminder that Mitt Romney can’t win," to "Mitt Romney has it all — except GOP stalwart support," to "Health-care jabs bloody up Mitt Romney."

One GOP operative described the rapport between the paper and the former governor as "horrific."

So with an eye towards patching up the animosity and earning, perhaps, a bit of good coverage in the process, Romney came to the Herald's defense on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the Herald reported that the White House Press Office had "refused" to allow its reporters "full access to President Obama’s Boston fund-raiser today, in e-mails objecting to the newspaper’s front page placement of a Mitt Romney op-ed, saying pool reporters are chosen based on whether they cover the news 'fairly.'"

In an effort to defusing the drama a bit lower in the piece, the article quoted a White House aide saying that the Globe had already been tasked with covering the event for the local pool and that its reports would be sent other outlets -- including the Herald.

But the story still riled conservatives. It also presented Romney with a chance to earn chips from a publication with which he's often butted-heads.

"[T]he media needs to be truthful and interesting and the Herald is both of those things. And for the White House to deny the Herald access to an official presidential visit absolutely makes no sense at all and really violates the spirit of the First Amendment," he told a local radio station. "I think it’s embarrassing for the White House to have taken a retribution type of act against a leading journal such as the Boston Herald."

The Romney campaign subsequently sent the GOP hopeful's remarks to its broad press list.

LISTEN:

Comments

[henrypapillon]

08:39 AM on 07/03/2011

The Mormon Miracle is trying to suck up to the far right wing.

[ptrgamb]

05:23 PM on 07/02/2011

So Romney supports the Herald when the Obama administration is pissed at them. Figures.

[camelias and sweet tea]

09:19 AM on 05/19/2011

This guy is a TOTAL fake and flip-flopper , he will say or do anything to get elected. It did not work last time either.

[henrypapillon]

08:42 AM on 07/03/2011

And only cost him $60 million of his own money. That's what i like, a self made man who goes in the military and serves his country in time of the draft and doesn't complain and pulls himself up from the bootstraps and becomes a multi-multi-millionaire on his own. What he didn't do any of that? Must have been the OTHER MItt.

[AcademicFreedom]

08:28 AM on 05/19/2011

Obama should pass a law that says that any criticism of Him that is not 100% accurate is illegal. Throw a couple of the Hearld's reporters and a couple of guys like O'Reilly, Beck, and Rush in jail to cool off their heels will teach them a lesson. There is just too many things that our President has on His plate that are important, anything that criticizes or takes away from what He is doing for us is flat-out wrong and sedicious.

[FACTISFACT]

02:52 AM on 05/19/2011

My smiling, confident, sorry Sir, seen the plight of your colleagues how public has advanced to take the past stock taking of their dubious work while holding public office of power.

You too cannot evade the public without clarifying the questions ask with regard to Tax cut of the Rich, poor and middle class. Forget about defense cut it of no importance.

Public has no worries about Defense matters as they have a very able and good Commander -in-Chief to look to that.

Public worries about your evading attitudes on answering to important National issues that affects the poor and middle class economy, finance, energy, diplomacy, Mid East, world war on terror etc.

You have on record of being rejected once before for the same habit of evading question of public and National interest.

[P Huffer]

10:48 PM on 05/18/2011

Speaking as a Massachusetts native, the Herald is a rag with all the legitimacy of Fox News. With that said, their criticism of Romney was spot on: he's a glib, artificial weasel without an iota of conviction. But with THAT said, kudos to the Obama administration for tossing them out on their ear. It's all that they deserve.

[yankee011]

10:37 PM on 05/18/2011

Finally the Obama admin is playing hardball witrh these loons, maybe he will ditch Fox next,.

[trvcampbe]

09:55 PM on 05/18/2011

Lets see Mit Against O bama..Who can tell the most lies and smile BIG..O bumer

[chriss0114]

09:27 AM on 05/19/2011

as usual, you "got nothing" so you make stuff up

got Obama lies link? ANY evidence?

I didn't think so

[trvcampbe]

10:13 AM on 05/19/2011

Do you remeber the speech when he was campaigning."I am going to end these wars and bring our people home,you can take that to the bank"..He has expanded the wars..You can do your own research..Like Bush,he is a liar on a mass scale..

[trvcampbe]

10:14 AM on 05/19/2011

Mit is also a Mega liar..

[MrNaive]

09:46 PM on 05/18/2011

Yes, I'll take the Vette Convertible with the Supercharged V8; but I want it at cost.
I apologize, but I'm so naive.

[Ferris J Anderson]

09:22 PM on 05/18/2011

That's just slimy

[AbstractImp]

09:04 PM on 05/18/2011

There's half a dozen 'floated candidacies'
heading toward the ground.

[AbstractImp]

09:03 PM on 05/18/2011

It's like. . . The Kamikaze Candidates.

[KenClay]

08:56 PM on 05/18/2011

Flip Flop Flop Flip Romney,,,

[annfirstlady]

09:13 PM on 05/18/2011

but KenClay,

Why do Progressives call
OBAMA FLIPPER ?

[Ferris J Anderson]

09:22 PM on 05/18/2011

What?

[chriss0114]

09:29 AM on 05/19/2011

they don't

is this another evangelical lie?

don't evangelicals believe in the 9th?

[liberty apples]

08:38 PM on 05/18/2011

"... against a leading journal such as the Boston Herald."

Gee, I thought Mr. Flip Flop was a bit more discerning. The Herald is a rag. A silly little tabloid that's shrunk to the size of a paper napkin. And it's still not small enough.

[annfirstlady]

08:43 PM on 05/18/2011

Progressives have called Obama Mr. Flip Flop
for more than two years.

Obama is Mr. Flip Flop.

[liberty apples]

08:48 PM on 05/18/2011

Which Mitt do the `Evangelicals for Mitt' prefer? The one that supported the gay GOP political group, Log Cabin Republicans, or the one who betrayed that group when he found it convenient? The guy's a fake. An empty suit. He'll say anything.

[trvcampbe]

09:44 PM on 05/18/2011

What ever gets O bumer the votes..Lie,Lie and Lie more..

[GraniteSkyline]

08:06 PM on 05/18/2011

He's smarter than Newt, he suvcks up to his enemies in the press instead of referring to all of them as mere "minnions."