Mitt Romney April Fools' Day Joke: Staff Pulls Prank On GOP Presidential Candidate (VIDEO)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks to volunteers at a phone bank for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on March 31, 2012 in Fitchburg, Wisconsin. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

MILWAUKEE -- Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney may have forgotten that Sunday was April Fools' Day.

His staff did not.

"This is a morning I'm not going to forget anytime soon," Romney told supporters a little later in the day. "They turned me into the April fool this morning."

Campaign workers took Romney to a room he thought was packed with supporters gathered for a pancake brunch. It was supposed to be his first campaign stop Sunday as he courted Wisconsin voters ahead of Tuesday's primary.

Romney said Rep. Paul Ryan walked out into the ballroom first and introduced Romney as he waited backstage with his newest supporter, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. There were the standard backstage cues for where to stand, along with Secret Service protection.

As Romney stood behind a black curtain, Ryan offered his usual enthusiastic endorsement, singing Romney's praises as applause filtered backstage.

His staff warned him not to expect a big crowd. That was an understatement.

Finally, it was time for Romney and Johnson to step into the room.

"The two of us go out there, and it's completely empty. There's nobody there," a smiling Romney said when his staff later brought him to the right room, where supporters had gathered, upstairs.

"Not only do they do that, but they caught it on camera," Romney said. "This is known as forgive, but remember."

Staffers plan to post a video of the prank on their blog.

Comments

[jaxter777]

02:06 PM on 04/03/2012

this prank couldn't of happened to another joker, if the shoe fits, then wear it Romney. If you want to vote for this joker my hats go off to you but , I won't be voting for this guy because I can see right through his lies.

[RobH413]

02:05 PM on 04/03/2012

An attempt to make the candidate seem like a sympathetic regular guy?

This guy is stiff and boring even as a prank victim. There's just no there there.

[jankul456]

04:57 AM on 04/03/2012

Newt Gingrich is the best candidate.

[RepublicanDepression]

10:10 PM on 04/02/2012

If you REALLY want to make a fool of Romney, tell him he has integrity, that Republicans really believe he is conservative, and that he could actually win the election.

What a laff riot that will be!

[barb582]

08:00 PM on 04/02/2012

Didn't he have some sort of rally at a football stadium and it was only a quarter full? Isn't this like the same thing. How embarrassing!

[bamaliberal]

05:56 PM on 04/02/2012

Unfortunately it is April Fool's Day everyday for this campaign, only the joke is on America.

[garyrjas]

05:40 PM on 04/02/2012

They told him he had won the Presidency and for a split second, he believed it.

[tel8034]

05:01 PM on 04/02/2012

Romney's entire campaign has been an April Fool's joke.

[dwdrummermichael]

04:04 PM on 04/02/2012

The GOP are all fools 24/7 they don't need a special day. They are special. Lol. Only the rich and the stupid vote retard repiles of sh$#.

[4more]

03:57 PM on 04/02/2012

L-A-M-E......with a capital L-A-M-E.

[nikolrap]

03:38 PM on 04/02/2012

who's bright idea was it to associate romney with april fool's day?

emphasis on fool.

what a pathetic campaign.

[bmitche]

02:36 PM on 04/02/2012

I'm sure this was not his idea of a good April Fools' Joke - not at this time.

[KC WRIGHT]

02:15 PM on 04/02/2012

Who's your April Fool? Nobody tries tricks like that on Putin I bet :-)

I don't he was well served by his Staff, especially their Filming it. An Inside Joke fine,
but publicy 'fooling" a Man Seeking the Most Powerful Chair in the World. I don't
see an upside, from their viewpoint. From everybody else's viewpoint...a Gold Mine.

[JDS]

11:46 AM on 04/03/2012

That was all pre-planned and WMR (Weird Mormon Robot) was in on it. That's their idea of something hilarious. It's all part of their grand scheme to help WMR fake authenticity. Given his fierce temper and total lack of a sense of humor, they would never risk making him look like a fool (at least intentionally) even under the cover of April Fool's Day. But, bottom line, Mittens is not a real boy, never was, newer will be (at least to those of us who aren't delusional).

[KC WRIGHT]

01:10 PM on 04/03/2012

Perhaps, then I would think even less of him. I still don't believe pretending you were fooled is going to help you win the top office in the land. I have trouble believing he thinks it would either. Of course he's the guy that complimented Michigan for having "Trees the right height". So I wouldn't argue voiciferously on any point.

[lassenlou]

01:50 PM on 04/02/2012

Oh, that Mittster, just a regular guy like all the rest of us. But,wouldn't it have been a better joke to have his car get stuck in his neat new personal auto elevator?

[Ken Hallett]

01:48 PM on 04/02/2012

He been running a April's fool joke since he got into public office