FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Wayne Besen, Executive Director
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
This was not a mere prank, but a disturbing portrait of Mitt Romney, says TWO
Burlington, Vt. – Truth Wins Out condemned Mitt Romney today for bullying and assaulting a high school classmate for appearing nonconforming and what was widely assumed to be gay. The story of Romney’s abusive behavior appeared in today’s Washington Post and sheds light on his current anti-gay positions, including his hostility towards recognizing equal rights for same-sex couples.
“This is not a mere prank to be easily dismissed, but a disturbing portrait of a person with deeply ingrained anti-gay attitudes,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “It seems Romney’s preferred form of bullying today is his anti-gay campaign positions and actions in the legislative arena.”
According to the Washington Post article:
John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it.
“He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. Mitt, the teenaged son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled.
A few days later, Friedemann entered Stevens Hall off the school’s collegiate quad to find Romney marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hair. Friedemann followed them to a nearby room where they came upon Lauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors.
Today, Romney apologized for his actions, although he claimed that he did not “remember that incident.” This is odd, considering that the bullying made quite a lasting impression among his friends, who felt deeply ashamed for their participation.
“Back in high school, I did some dumb things, and if anybody was hurt by that or offended, obviously I apologize for that,” Romney said in a live radio interview with Fox News Channel personality Brian Kilmeade. Romney added: “I participated in a lot of hijinks and pranks during high school, and some might have gone too far, and for that I apologize.”
“I’m more disturbed by his amnesia than the original incident,” said TWO’s Besen. “To forget humiliating and abusing someone in this manner suggests that such behavior was common for Romney.”
Truth Wins Out is a nonprofit organization that fights anti-LGBT extremism. TWO specializes in turning information into action by organizing, advocating and fighting for LGBT equality.
I smell a quasi-sociopath. The abuse of the family dog is another (big) red flag.
Gary, I totally agree. Said that very thing in a commentary I recently posted to the site as well.
Chilling. He seems incapable of admitting any mistakes at all. Megalomaniac sociopath?
Almost everyone present remembered the attack vividly. Only Gov. Romney can’t remember gleefully committing a criminal assault against an outnumbered victim for whom he *still* feels no compassion? Gov. Romney can’t (won’t) remember hurting John Lauber even when prompted by four detailed, written accounts of eye-witnesses?
Admitting mistakes is hard for all of us. For alpha males, especially the silver spoon up the a*s types, it is almost impossible. I agree his refusal to own up just reinforces my natural aversion to his smarmy-ness. Remember he is a leader of an über-patriarchal religion as well.
A bishopric I believe.
At least the poor student wasn’t strapped to the roof of the car. Maybe Romney was not old enough to drive yet.
selective memory…what a creep.
Sounds like something Geo. W. Bush would’ve done.
Religious, political and corporate leadership are really the three areas where sociopaths thrive and are even rewarded over normal people.
He’s got issues with gay folks. He assaulted a fellow student, and is so indifferent to the suffering he inflicted, he claims he didn’t remember.
Now he’s showing is disdain for gay people through support of policies that maintain tax paying law abiding citizens in inferior status.
He believes gay people ARE inferior and unworthy of Constitutional protections.
Imagine if that had been a rare black kid that attended the same prep school he helped to assault. And Romney supported Jim Crow discrimination against blacks, and considering the racist legacy of the Mormons, would anyone believe he’s fit to run for office?
Just because gay people are a vulnerable minority, doesn’t mean he gets to use the force of gov’t to bully ALL of them.
This assault on a fellow student might have happened a long time ago, but Romney’s policy agenda on gay folks says he hasn’t changed.
I’m disgusted, but not surprised, by anti-gay activist Romney’s behavior toward the classmate. He continues his anti-gay bullying to this day. If he really had Jesus in his life, he would be able to suppress his urgings to engage in the sin of homophobia. Unrepentant homophobe Romney couldn’t control his sinful homophobic desires as a student and he still can’t today. He needs to repent.
I am horrified but not surprised really. It is perfectly clear that Romney is a liar. How could anyone not “recall” an incident in which he planned and attacked, had others involved they tackled and held down this student while Romney himself cut this boys hair off, all the while I can imagine the struggle and the boy crying as well. Cold and callous. Romney as a young adult so desensitized that he can’t even admit or even acknowledge that student and the humiliation and emotional abuse and the assault. Romney representing the assault and bullying as less than what it truly is and was for that victim. He is a predator and that student was easy prey, weaker than Romney as was the family dog, that poor sick dog on the roof of his car. His excuse for their family pet was he didn’t know it was against the law and the dog loved being in his crate, his “air tight” crate going 55 or 65 miles per hour for hours.
He said he had done hijinks and pranks hummmmm, wonder what else he has done? He is a disgrace and shouldn’t represent our country let alone any office of any kind PERIOD! He lacks the character needed as a leader.
Sorry Romney You are a FREAK!!!!!! Prejudice clearly and just plain mean and hateful.
I’ve said all along Romney’s character is flawed, terribly. We don’t need him for the leader of our country. Frankly, he scares me a little!
He can’t remember ? He can’t remember that he used to support civil unions either. This guy is a pathological liar whose lies are quickly backing him into a corner. Let’s just sit back and watch the show. Time to make some popcorn folks and watch his campaign implode!
I heard on Mike Malloy’s radio show last night that some of romney’s former classmates also recounted how romney intentionally led a blind teacher into walking into a door and then laughed hysterically about it. Of course the teacher didn’t complain because she knew this sadistic, spoiled piece of s**t was the governor’s son. Romney may *pretend* that he doesn’t remember any of this, but I can assure him and everyone else that all of his victims remember every terrifying, agonizing second of it.
Not surprisingly in the book Bush on the Couch (a psychological analysis of his life) it was recounted by his classmates how the young bush had a penchant for heating paperclips with a lighter and then burning the other guys in his group with it. I guess he was practicing for Iraq.
The last paragraph refers to George W–sorry it was vaguely written.
If the Washington Post wrote a profile of today’s activity at TWO it would be 50% wrong. If it wrote about May 11, 2012 in 2062–it would not be recognizable.
That said–Romney’s incapacity to comment or empathize regarding even an alleged cruelty reinforces my negative view of him.
From my own teen years to now (40 years) I have never ceased to be amazed at the cruelty. I have never understood not having basic moral boundaries that refrain one’s self from hurting others.
Personally, I wouldn’t hold something like this against any candidate – it did happen over 40 years ago. However, this man is a poor liar and contortionist supreme. How can one not remember assaulting a classmate and cutting his hair when you are the one who masterminded the deed and wielded the weapon? Ridiculous. Man up, you creep. Why not just admit it and apologize sincerely for it? Oh, sorry – that would take a real man and one of honesty and integrity. NOT YOU – Mitten. I also am struck with how he giggled and chuckled through the radio interview with such concern for the other victim’s feelings. Even today he can’t tune in to another’s distress.
Not surprised. Saddened and disgusted, yes, but not surprised one bit.
You guys will no doubt be as surprised as I was to read this account of a time when the young Bush stopped some homophobic talk:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/05/more-on-the-haircut-in-context/257097/
I know this is a an older article but I am sorry this is ridicules. Where is the story of Obama bullying that girl in jr High? As for the commenter who talked about Romney and the dog incident..at least he didn’t EAT his dog..
Mark, Obama didn’t bully that girl, he pushed her away from him when others were bullying the both and claiming they were in love. While Obama’s actions weren’t the best choice, they are far from as despicable as Romney attacking someone because he looked gay, throwing him to the ground and cutting the hair off the terrified victim and then decades later laughing about it and trying to trivialize it as “hijinks”.
Same thing with the dog. Obama was a young child when he was fed dog, it wasn’t his idea and one can’t expect a child of a few years to stand up to unchallengeable authority and have the judgment Romney should have had in his 30′s when he abused his dog.
There’s no way you can equate the evil of Romney with what Obama did – the two are degrees of magnitude apart.