Follow-up: Romney will no longer mention slain SEAL
Oct 11, 2012, 8:05 AM | Updated: Oct 11, 2024, 1:04 pm
Mitt Romney’s campaign says he will no longer tell the story of meeting Glen Doherty, a former Navy SEAL killed in Libya after Doherty’s good friend and mother complained to KIRO Radio and other media outlets.
“Whether it be Republican, Democrat, Green Party, Libertarian, it doesn’t make a difference,” Elf Ellefsen told the Ron and Don Show. “Because this guy is using our great friend, our humble, and honorable great friend…who is truly larger than life…He has become part of the soapbox routine for politics in a presidential race.”
“I’m just upset that Mitt Romney is using this for his political gain and I don’t think it should be a political issue when four young men have died,” Barbara Doherty told Ross and Burbank in an interview Wednesday.
Glen Doherty was one of four men killed in the September 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.
On the stump Tuesday in Iowa and again Wednesday in Ohio, Romney spoke of meeting Doherty at a party and praised the former SEAL’s courage in trying to stave off the attack.
Romney got emotional in telling the story, implying a strong relationship with Doherty. But Barbara Doherty questioned how well the candidate really knew her son and his political motivation in invoking his memory.
“If Mitt Romney met him and was so moved by him, I’m just wondering why someone from his office never called to see what they could do and I have never received a note of condolence from anybody in that party,” she said.
In response, the Romney campaign tells BuzzFeed he’ll no longer tell the story on the stump.
“Governor Romney was inspired by the memory of meeting Glen Doherty and shared his story and that memory. We respect the wishes of Mrs. Doherty though,” says spokesman Kevin Madden.
Meantime, Doherty’s sister, Kate Quigley, told CNN Wednesday evening she’s not angry about Romney invoking her brother, saying Doherty “would be the first one to reach across party lines and diffuse the situation.”
“The fact of the matter is what Governor Mitt Romney said about my brother Glen is true, and he called him a hero and we’re honored by that,” Quigley said. “And we’re honored by what Obama did for the homecoming. The fact of the matter is being an American hero can be completely bipartisan and everybody wants to point fingers and play the blame game — let’s blame the terrorists.”
