Mitt Romney on Friday defended his speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa last week, in which he made no mention of the war in Afghanistan or the people fighting in it.
“When you give a speech you don’t go through a laundry list, you talk about the things that you think are important and I described in my speech, my commitment to a strong military unlike the president’s decision to cut our military,” Romney told Fox News’ Bret Bair. “And I didn’t use the word troops. I used the word military. I think they refer to the same thing. And of course going to the American Legion the day before during the middle of our convention made it much bigger statement to our military and our troops than the president who did not go to meet with the American Legion.”
The word “military” appeared twice in Romney’s convention speech, but they both referred to military capacity in general. The first:
His trillion dollar cuts to our military will eliminate
hundreds of thousands of jobs and also put our security at
greater risk.
And the second:
Everywhere I go there are monuments and now for those who
have given their lives for America. There is no mention of
their race, their party affiliation, or what they did for a
living.
(APPLAUSE)
They lived and died under a single flag, fighting for a
single purpose. They’ve pledge allegiance to the United States
of America. That America, that united America can unleash an
economy that will put Americans back to work, that will once
again lead the world with innovation and productivity, and will
restore every father and mother’s confidence that their
children’s future is brighter even than the past. That
America, that united America will preserve a military that’s so
strong no nation will ever dare to test it.
