'I’m not running as a Mormon' Romney said on the video. Romney Mormon video goes viral

A day before the election, a video that depicts a visibly angry Mitt Romney defending his faith has become a viral hit.

The clip, which according to news reports comes from a 2007 conversation the typically reserved GOP presidential candidate had with a conservative Iowa radio talk show host, shows Romney engaging in a theological discussion that touches on subjects ranging from abortion to the second coming of Christ.


“I’m not running as a Mormon,” Romney said on the video which has been viewed more than 1 million times. “And I get a little tired of coming on a show like yours and having it [be] all about Mormons.”

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The host of the show, Jan Mickelson, had pushed Romney to explain how Mormons, adhering to religious texts, could also be pro-abortion rights, the clip revealed.

“Let me once again say, I understand my faith better than you do,” Romney said. “You don’t believe that, do you?”

But Romney still took on the question, also noting at the end of the interview that his record as governor of Massachusetts reflected his pro-life position.

“I was beaten up in Boston because I pointed out, time and again that I encouraged girls not to get abortions, that I told them to have adoption s,” he said. “I have not done anything that in any way violates the principles of my church in that regard. I made other mistakes, but in that regard.”

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He added that while the Mormon Church prohibits abortion, “we allow other people to make their own choice.”

“I disagree with that view,” Romney said. “Politically, I look at that and say, ‘You know what, that’s wrong.’ It’s not a Mormon thing, it’s a secular position to say, ‘I was wrong, we should have, as a society, a prohibition on abortion in the following circumstances.’ But I’m not violating my faith, let me assure you.”

When Mickelson expressed hope that the next time Romney appeared on his show, they could have a more substantive discussion, Romney bristled.

“I don’t like coming on the air and having you go after my church,” Romney said. He added, “You’re trying to tell me that I’m not a faithful Mormon.

“I’m not running to talk about Mormonism,” Romney continued.

Soon after the sparring match, Romney told Katie Couric that he became “intense” when a “TV or radio talk show host the other day in Iowa…began drilling me about my faith,” but that the exchange was captured on “hidden camera.”

“I became intense in confronting what he had said,” Romney said, according to a transcript from CBS. “And we went back and forth. Unbeknownst to me, he had a hidden camera on the console. So this then popped up on the Internet - as our exchange. And I was intense. I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t out of control. But I was intense.”

A producer of the show told POLITICO that Romney made those remarks soon after being interviewed by Mickelson, but that the camera in question was in plain sight.

“The next day when that aired, I think it’s a fair word to say that it stung us,” said Ross Peterson, the producer for Mickelson’s show. “We felt that it was dishonest…the camera was absolutely in plain sight, feet from where he was sitting.”