LONDON—For the second day in a row, Mitt Romney’s visit to London was marred by controversy, as the British media seized on comments the GOP candidate made suggesting he found London’s preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympics “disconcerting.”
In an interview with NBC News on Wednesday, Romney, who has campaigned on his experience running the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, was asked if he thought London was “ready” for the games.
“You know, it’s hard to know just how well it will turn out,” Romney told NBC. “There are a few things that were disconcerting. The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials … that obviously is not something which is encouraging.”
Romney’s comments were immediately big news in London, splashed across the websites of major newspapers. In a press conference Thursday just hours before he was set to meet with Romney, Prime Minister David Cameron issued a snippy rejection of Romney’s comments.
“We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world. Of course it’s easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere,” Cameron said, a comment that was widely interpreted as a reference to Salt Lake City, where Romney headed up the organizing committee.
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