© 2024 Red River Radio
Voice of the Community
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Honoring Slain SEAL's Mom's Request, Romney Will Drop Story On Stump

This undated photo provided by Mark and Kate Quigley shows Glen Doherty, who died in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya.
AP
This undated photo provided by Mark and Kate Quigley shows Glen Doherty, who died in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya.

The campaign of Gov. Mitt Romney says the Republican presidential candidate will no longer tell the story of meeting Navy SEAL Glen Doherty, who was killed during the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Romney revealed during his stump speeches that he met Doherty at a Christmas party he crashed in his San Diego neighborhood.

In a campaign event in Iowa, yesterday, Romney choked up when he retold the story.

"You can imagine how I felt when I found out that he was one of the two former Navy SEALS killed in Benghazi on September 11," Romney said. "And it touched me, obviously, as I recognized that this young man that I felt was so impressive had lost his life in the service of his fellow men and women."

But just as happened with President Obama when the producers of Sesame Street requested the Obama campaign pull an ad featuring the bird, Doherty's mother has asked Romney to stop politicizing her son.

"I don't trust Romney. He shouldn't make my son's death part of his political agenda," Barbara Doherty told Boston's WHDH. "It's wrong to use these brave young men, who wanted freedom for all, to degrade Obama."

Shortly after, the Romney campaign said they would comply with Doherty's request.

"Governor Romney was inspired by the memory of meeting Glen Doherty and shared his story and that memory, but we respect the wishes of Mrs. Doherty," Romney spokesman Rick Gorka told Politico.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.