Romney says sorry for that incident he can’t remember

The timing could hardly have been worse for the Romney campaign: no sooner had President Obama finally declared his support for gay marriage, drawing a line under all of his prevarication, than reports emerged that a teenage Mitt Romney bullied a high school classmate, who was thought to be gay.

The Washington Post talked to four of those who took part in the incident, who described what happened when Romney and his group ganged up on fellow student John Lauber, who had dyed his hair bleach-blond, and styled it over one eye. “He can’t look like that. That’s wrong: just look at him,” Romney allegedly said.

Then, the Post says, the group moved in: “As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors.” Those who spoke to the Post described what happened as “senseless, idiotic”, something they had not been able to forget for years. Lauber, too, had apparently found it hard to erase the experience from his mind.

I did stupid things, and I’m afraid I have to say sorry for it. Mitt Romney

Not so Mitt Romney, according to his spokeswoman Andrea Saul’s immediate response: “Governor Romney has no memory of participating in these incidents.” Mitt himself went on Fox Radio, saying his school days had been a long time ago, then describing what happened as “pranks” and “high jinks”. Back in high school days, he said, “I did stupid things, and I’m afraid I have to say sorry for it”.

Later he expanded a bit, saying he definitely did not think the student they had attacked was gay. The attack that he had no memory of, seemed to be coming back to him. According to the Post, though, it was not the only incident: Romney reportedly mocked another student who had not come out as gay, shouting “Atta-girl” when he spoke up in class.

It’s a character thing

Now clearly we should not read too much into events that happened 48 years ago: after all, teenagers grow up and develop more sophisticated feelings. And indeed, the family of John Lauber, who passed away in 2004, say they have no knowledge of a bullying incident and “are aggrieved that he would be used to further a political agenda”. But it is Romney’s reaction, his handling of the revelations, that is telling, particularly about his character.

Back in 2005, former White House legal counsel Lanny Davis recalled how George W Bush dealt with homophobic classmates at Yale, who had taunted another kid for being “queer”. “George heard it, and most uncharacteristically, snapped: “Shut up”. Then he said, in words I can remember almost verbatim: “Why don’t you try walking in his shoes for a while and see how it feels before you make a comment like that?””

By contrast, Romney comes across as someone who failed to stand up for someone perceived as different, or weak. And by claiming he could not remember the incident, then dismissing it as “high jinks”, as someone who failed to realise how much hurt it had caused.

The Romney campaign hastily tried to contact other former Cranbrook school students who might be able to produce fonder recollections of the young Mitt. Instead, ABC news tracked down one ex-classmate, who preferred to remain anonymous: he described “a lot of guys” who had “really negative memories” of Romney’s behaviour in the dorms, behaviour the classmate described as “like Lord of the Flies”.

Gift for the Democrats

For the Democrats, all this has been a campaign gift. Finally able to articulate their own president’s posiition without equivocating, they rushed out an ad accusing Romney of trying to drag the country backwards on equal rights, while Obama was marching forward.

Mitt himself was forced to set out his own position on gay marriage, insisting he was completely opposed. Marriage, he said, should be between a man and woman, period. Although he did suggest that gay couples should be allowed to adopt.

Now he is left trying to drag his focus back to safer ground, like the economy: although he will not be helped by his campaign schedule, taking him first to North Carolina, the state which just voted to approve a constitutional ban on same-sex unions. Then it’s on to a speech at the country’s biggest evangelical university, Liberty University in Virginia, founded by the late Rev Jerry Falwell. He’s the man described by gay rights groups as an “agent of intolerance”.

It remains to be seen whether Romney will say more about the bullying allegations in that university address. He could certainly use a chance for some damage limitation, on an issue that could have been far better handled, from the start.

Felicity Spector writes about US affairs for Channel 4 News