Did Mitt Romney bring in supporters to cheer him on during his Wednesday speech to the NAACP?
That’s the charge made by Hilary Shelton, who heads up the Washington, D.C., chapter of the NAACP. Shelton told Ed Schultz on MSNBC Wednesday night that Romney flew in supporters to Houston to applaud him at the civil rights group’s annual convention.
“The campaign actually gave me a list of African-American VIPs that they brought in to the NAACP meeting,” Shelton told Schultz. “So, I’m sure those are the ones they sat down with because, quite frankly, none of the rank-and-file NAACPers met with him.”
After the speech, Romney said that he had African-American supporters at the convention who spoke with him privately and expressed their support.
Romney was booed during the speech for his saying he would repeal President Obama’s signature health care law and was met with snickering and jeers when he told the audience, “If you want a president who will make things better in the African American community, you’re looking at him.”
But he received scattered applause at other junctures in his address, including when he said he would uphold traditional marriage.
“They are bringing people in that they know will support his agenda from other places that aren’t active with the NAACP,” Shelton said on MSNBC. “These are people that were actually brought in to provide the cheering for him so there will be some support for him along those lines.”
