Newt Gingrich cast Mitt Romney as the most anti-immigrant candidate of the four contenders for the Republican presidential nomination in a campaign debate on Thursday night in Hispanic-heavy Florida.
“That’s simply inexcusable,” the former Massachusetts Governor shot back, heatedly denying the accusation.
Mr. Romney quickly added that Mr. Gingrich’s campaign had stopped running a radio ad that made the “anti-immigrant charge” after Cuban-born Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called on him to do so. Mr. Romney said to Mr. Gingrich concerning the ad, “I think you should apologise for it.”
The exchange came near the beginning of the second debate in four days in advance of next Tuesday’s Florida primary.
Opinion polls indicate the race is close, with two other contenders, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Texas Rep. Ron Paul trailing far behind.
But Mr. Santorum drew applause from the audience when he called on the two front-runners to stop attacking one another and “focus on the issues.” “Can we set aside that Newt was a member of Congress ... and that Mitt Romney is a wealthy guy?” he said in a tone of exasperation.
That seemed unlikely, given the stakes in the primary now five days distant. Mr. Gingrich picked up on the theme quickly, calling on moderator Wolf Blitzer of CNN to let the four candidates discuss the issues.
The audience booed, as if in agreement with Mr. Gingrich, but Mr. Romney jumped in, saying, “Wouldn’t it be nice if people didn’t make accusations somewhere else that they weren’t willing to defend here?”
Keywords: US presidential polls, Republican party, Romney, Gingrich
