Liberal Journos Alex Witt and Patricia Murphy Blast Romneys For Resurfacing Too Soon

June 6th, 2013 4:21 PM

It seems that the media cannot resist spitting on the Romneys when they are down. On last Saturday’s Weekends with Alex Witt, Ms. Witt decided to cover Ann Romney’s recent interview with CBS This Morning as part of her end-of-show The Big 3 segment. Witt played a clip from that interview in which Romney bemoaned Americans’ lack of trust in their government due to the current scandals.

After the clip, Witt tag-teamed with liberal journalist Patricia Murphy, editor of Citizen Jane Politics, to bash the Romneys for re-entering the national political conversation. “Patricia, too early for the Romneys to resurface?" Witt inquired. "You think the public really wants to hear from them after the last election?" she asked, a not-so-subtle way of passive-aggressively wishing the Romneys would crawl into a hole. [Video below. MP3 audio here.]

 

Don’t tell Witt, but both Romneys had already resurfaced before that CBS This Morning interview. Mitt and Ann Romney gave Fox News an interview back in March, and later that month Mitt spoke at CPAC. Even their eldest son Tagg resurfaced in December when he told The Boston Globe that his father had been reluctant to run for president.
 

For her part, Murphy sneered at the Romneys: “I don't think they have a future in politics unless one of the five boys wants to run, so they can't really damage their brand any further than they already have by talking too soon.” But she believed they did talk too soon. She then put on her professor’s cap and lectured the Romneys: “People didn't trust you in the last election; that's why you didn't win.” 

Of course, much has changed since November, what with a trio of scandals and other developments in the news, that might make many Americans wish they could have a re-do on their choice last November.

And the liberal media aided the effort to erode trust in Romney, by the way. Sadly, contempt for Republican candidates is what we have come to expect from media members. If it were up to them, we may never hear from Mitt Romney again.

Of course, some in the media felt quite differently about another extremely wealthy Massachusettsan defeated handily by an incumbent president.

John F. Kerry’s first post-election TV interview came on January 30, 2005, a mere 10 days after President Bush’s second inauguration. In that cozy Meet the Press interview, moderator Tim Russert seemed very interested in Kerry’s opinions regarding Iraq: “What specifically must President Bush do in your mind?  Who should he call?  Who should he meet with?  What should he do?”

There Russert was essentially asking, what would you do if you were president, Senator Kerry? I don’t recall anyone in the mainstream media showing this much interest in how Romney would have handled President Obama’s second-term challenges. There was no talk of Kerry having damaged his brand; he is still respected today in his role as Obama's secretary of state. But the liberal media only treat Romney as a loser who just needs to go away. 

So yes, the Romneys have resurfaced. They have every right to speak out. If Witt and Murphy don’t like it, they would do well to simply not cover the development rather than complain about the fact that the Romneys are exercising their right to free speech.

Below is a transcript of the exchange:

ALEX WITT: Okay guys, I want to get to our next topic, and I’ll start with you, Patricia. The burning question -- too early? Because let's listen to Ann Romney giving a new interview this week. Here it is.



ANN ROMNEY: I think there's breach of trust that we as all Americans feel right now with our government. If we look at the three scandals that are going on right now, and in particular, I saw the polling numbers with the -- how people are upset with the IRS scandal, is we have to have trust in our government. We have to believe that they are doing right for us. When we feel like they are breaking our trust, it's deeply troubling.

WITT: Patricia, too early for the Romneys to resurface? You think the public really wants to hear from them after the last election?

PATRICIA MURPHY: Yeah, well, for the Romneys themselves, I don't think they have a future in politics unless one of the five boys wants to run, so they can't really damage their brand any further than they already have by talking too soon. Is it too soon? Yes. People didn't trust you in the last election; that's why you didn't win. I think for Republicans it’s way too soon for the Romneys. They would like to close the chapter on the last election, move forward to some of the rising stars, and there are a number of them. They would love for the Romneys not to be dragging us all back to 2012, which did not go well for them.