Ahead of his meeting with Rick Santorum on Friday, Mitt Romney said he does not expect to see an endorsement, but he reassured Republicans that the party will unite to battle President Obama. Romney also attacked the president over what he called disappointing jobs numbers released on Friday.
Romney and Santorum are meeting in Pittsburgh to possibly discuss an endorsement. “I don't think we have plans for an endorsement today,” the former Massachusetts governor said on Fox and Friends. “I think all the Republicans will come together and support my candidacy. We said so on the stage in debates against one another.”
The Democratic National Committee is out with a new Web video on Friday, compiling Santorum’s attacks on Romney throughout the primary season. At one point during the campaign, the former senator from Pennsylvania said of his rival, “If Mitt Romney’s an economic heavyweight, we’re in trouble.” Santorum dropped out last month ahead of his home state’s primary.
Romney also took time to criticize Obama over the latest jobs figures, showing the unemployment rate dropping to 8.1 percent with 115,000 new jobs added in April.
“This is not progress, this is very disappointing,” he said. “I think the American people know that their lives are not better than they were three and a half years ago.”
The Romney campaign has been getting heat lately for the departure of a foreign-policy aide, who said he was pressured to leave because he is openly gay. On Friday, Romney said he was sad to see that aide, Richard Grenell, leave and that the departure had nothing to do with his sexual orientation.
“We wanted him to stay with our team,” Romney said. “He is a very accomplished spokesperson. We select people not based upon their ethnicity or sexual preference or gender but upon their capability. We are sorry to have him go. Actually, a whole series of senior people on my team called him and encouraged him to stay. He expressed a desire to move on, and I wish him the best.”
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