Soledad O’Brien to RNC Chair: Romney position on pro-life legislation “completely contradictory”
CNN’s Soledad O’Brien asks RNC Chairman Reince Priebus about Mitt Romney’s position on legislation regarding abortion.
Priebus says, “I see the flap over this Des Moines Register question. But… there’s nothing there there –“
O’Brien interjects, “You don’t think so? Well, let’s walk through that. Because, I doubt everybody knows it. So, let’s play a little bit of what Mitt Romney said to the Des Moines Register. Because people are talking about it. So, I’m not sure there’s no ‘there there.’ Let’s play that first.”
After playing a clip of Romney telling the Des Moines Register that he does not intend to pursue legislation regarding abortion that would become a part of his agenda, O’Brien reads a statement from campaign spokesperson Andrea Saul made after the Des Moines Register interview that said Romney would support legislation that would provide greater protections of life. And, finally, she plays a video of Romney saying that he would remove funding for Planned Parenthood from his budget.
O’Brien says, “So, I’m going to remove funding from Planned Parenthood from my budget. That would be legislation. The first clip I played, he said there will be no legislation in regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would be part of my agenda. That sounds completely contradictory to me. How’s it not?”
Priebues responds, “Well listen, you spent all this time setting up the question and I appreciate that. But the fact of the matter is that what he’s referring to is whether or not there were piles of legislation in the Congress, what specific bills in the Congress in regards to abortion are you going to be pushing over the next four years –“
O’Brien, “Reince, that wasn’t the question.”
Later in the interview, O’Brien says, “But I gotta tell you, we’re going to ask tough questions of everyone. I don’t care what side their on, honestly.”
Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien airs weekday mornings from 7-9a ET on CNN.