Romney was savaged in the British press for his earlier remarks. Romney recovery: London is ready

Under fire for suggesting that London might not be adequately prepared for the Olympic Games, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney repeated multiple times Friday that he now thinks the city is ready.

“After being here a couple days, it looks like London is ready,” Romney said on NBC’s “Today” show.


“I’m absolutely convinced that the people here are ready for the games,” he added. “In just a few minutes, all the things politicians say will get swept away because athletes will take the stage.”

( PHOTOS: Romney in UK)

Faced with criticism that he was being critical of London’s games, Romney took time to be extra effusive.

“Of course it is hard to put on the games in a major metropolitan area. What they have done that I find so impressive is they took the venues and put them right in the city. You’re going to be on the back side of 10 Downing Street for beach volleyball.”

Romney said that the Olympics were about athletes, not politicians.

“The games are about the athletes. That’s why the games virtually anywhere they have been have been success,” he said.

The former Massachusetts governor had been savaged in the British press for saying that some of the challenges leading up to the games have been “disconcerting.”

“The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials — that obviously is not something which is encouraging,” the presumptive GOP nominee said.

As for Ann Romney’s horse, Rafalca, and its Olympic dressage competition?

“I’d love to be there, but this is going to be kind of a busy time for me,” chuckled Romney.

“I give him a pass when it comes to my horses, because he’s so, so supportive of me, having to put up with my love of horses, so when it comes to the show part of the horse stuff, he gets a total pass,” added his wife.

“One Christmas, my sons gave me a box, and said, ‘If you wear this, mom will pay more attention to you.’ It was a rubber horse mask,” recalled Mitt Romney.