HRC Blog

Romney Booed at NAACP Convention

July 11, 2012 by Dan Rafter, Online Campaigns Manager

Mitt Romney earned a resounding cascade of boos during his remarks at the NAACP convention in Houston today when he pledged to repeal healthcare reform should he be elected president. Check out the video:

Romney also lectured attendees on why he would make a better president for communities of color than President Obama, saying: “I believe that if you understood who I truly am in my heart, and if it were possible for me to communicate what I believe is in the real, enduring best interest of African American families, you would vote for me for president. Now I want you to know that if I did not believe my policies and my leadership would help families of color…more than the policies and leadership of President Obama, I wouldn’t be running for president.”

The event wouldn’t have been complete without Romney once again seizing an opportunity to slam same-sex couples. Despite the NAACP’s historic endorsement of marriage equality in May – and polling that shows nearly 60 percent of African Americans support marriage equality – Romney told the crowd: “As president, I will promote strong families and defend traditional marriage.”

Earlier in his speech Romney vowed that as president he would represent Americans of “every race, creed and sexual orientation” – a line that echoes past promises he has made in which he says he doesn’t support discrimination against LGBT Americans. Unfortunately, those words are hollow – when it comes to actually protecting LGBT people from discrimination, Romney is suddenly less eager to act. Despite the fact that you can be fired in 29 states for your sexual orientation and 34 for gender identity, Romney opposes legislation to end that discrimination because he thinks it would be an unfair burden for employers.