grenell.he george w. bush administration was out of office, mr. grenell became a very prolific user of twitter, and while twitter does not always bring out the best in people, as a high-ranking former bush administration official, mr. grenell's tweets stood out for, frankly, their immaturity and sexism and apparent lack of judgment. did you notice that while michelle obama is working out on the biggest loser, she's sweating on the east room carpet? just saying. do you think callista's hair snaps on? rachel maddow needs to take a breath and put on a necklace. what does that have to do with whatever he disagreed with me about? i don't know. but given that this was his post-bush administration public persona, it was a little weird that that was the guy that governor mitt romney chose to be his spokesman in his presidential campaign. once mr. grenell's junior high school-style online history started to get reported on, he immediately scrubbed his online profile, he deleted something like 800 of hi

grenell had to go. "although grenell also raised the ire of liberal commentators with now deleted tweets about certain prominent women, none of the sources i spoke with mentioned the tweets as a factor in his resignation decision. instead, the reason richard grenell could not stay on as a spokesman for mr. romney was attributed to a full court press for anti-gay conservatives." for his part, mr. grenell released a statement upon resigning, lamenting that discussion about his personal issues had made it impossible for him to stay on. but he went out of his way to thank governor romney for his, quote, clear message to me that being openly gay was a nonissue for him and his team. clear message? how exactly was that made clear to you? as the right was attacking richard grenell for being gay, neither mr. romney nor anyone in the romney campaign ever spoke out against it. they never defended mr. grenell for being gay. they never told anybody on the right to cool it with the anti-gay rhetoric. they apparently

so while richard grenell is being criticized by the anti-gay rights and by other people for something totally unrelated to him being gay, when it came to the romney campaign, the criticism about his fitness for office, his maturity, his judgment, that apparently did

grenell says it's because of blowback because he's openly gay. the question -- can you be lgbt and in the gop? >>> plus, cheri young gets combative on the witness stand today. she's being called spunky, feisty, and a steel magnolia. if there was a pill to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye-care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. [ male announcer ] ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. now, that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. gives you a 50% annual bonus. and who doesn't want 50% more cash? ugh, the baby. huh! and then the baby bear said, "i want 50% more cash in my bed!" phhht! 50% more cash is good ri... what's that. ♪ you can spell. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. w

that was mitt romney's public remark regarding the resignation of grenell.ur response to his resignation. that neglects the stronger case, why would mitt romney just say i want you back on the campaign. he won't do it, and it opens up a larger question. why would an openly gay person like richard grenell want to be in a party that will not stand up for him again and again and again. let's talk about it. gay man? >> yes, he is on six ballots, making a point. mark, look, i studies politics, common sense tells you that mitt romney is lying to us there. he could simply have said two days ago, don't quit, ip need you buddy, i need you. don't listen to these guys around you, i need you. don't listen to the right wing guy on the radio, i need you. instead, he lets his staffers call up the guy right before a big briefing, which richard grenell said the campaign requested that you not speak on this call. it's best to lay low now. we don't really want you known to be our spokesman because you're gay. why do people put up with this? >> they shouldn't, and i believe mit

. >> the grenell -- richard grenell, interesting back and forth. i wonder, patricia, what you think. it looked like at the beginning here was some sort of vague seeming outreach to perhaps the gay community showing look, we have an openly gay member on our foreign policy team. that sorted looks like he pleased no one. matthew staber in boston globe on grenell's hiring like throwing salt into a wound, the wrong decision if he wants to reach out to the conservative base. supporters of grenell yesterday quoting christopher barren, clearly the romney campaign thought if they could put him 18 box it would go away. it's an unforced error. it doesn't bode well for the romney campaign going forward if they couldn't stand up to the most outrageous attacks. >> no campaign is going to take more than two days of heat over a staffer. i don't think that the romney campaign wanted this to be a big deal. i don't think they wanted to the absymbol. grenell was pretty well in the conservative fabric. >> working as under john bolton. >> very well known. for conservati

we take it for granted now, the g grenell, he proofread my chapters on grenell, because george burns grenell is the other important figure in my book. he was the american authority on game. >> last couple questions. who pays for all your travel to all these sites and all this research done? is that part of what the publisher promises you? >> yeah. they give you an advance, and then i squander it on my travels and so i make no money, therefore, i have to stay as a professor. this book on theodore roosevelt was very expensive for me. >> do you have any idea what it cost you? >> i don't, you know, and i don't lavish -- i go economy, i rent the cheapest car i can and i stay at a modest inn when i go to these places, but nevertheless since i've been really doing it since, you know, the '90s it adds up to the point you're wondering from a lifestyle point of view, it probably doesn't add up to do a book of this nature. but once you do a big, serious, heavily footnoted research book like this, my next book i could do something that i can do out of home without so much travel. >> last questio

grenell off the romney team. take a listen. >> ladies and gentlemen, this is a huge win and it is a huge win for us in regard to mitt romney. i will flat out guarantee you he is not going to make this mace take again. there is no way in the world that mitt romney is going to put a homosexual activist in any position of importance in his campaign. >> that sounds like the republican party welcoming diversity. >> well, it is tragic for him to refer to it as a mistake and just the negative energy around that. i hope that the romney campaign can open their eyes and understand that when they see this and sense this discrimination it seems to out dated and out moded to them and they look like dinosaurs and this guy was an extremely capable and articulate spokesman and capable at what he was trying to do for the campaign.

and a larger question, why would an openly gay person like richard grenell want to be part of a partyand up for him again and again and again? mark foley joins us now. let's talk about it. gay man -- >> yes, sir. >> we also have with us fred carger. he's on six ballots, making a point. we'll get to you. i know this guy, i don't know you. mark, look, i am -- i study politics. but common sense tells you that mitt romney is b.s.'ing us there. he could've simply said two days ago, don't quit, i need you, buddy. i need you. don't listen to these guys around you. i need you. don't listen to the right-wing guy on the radio, i need you. instead, he lets his staffers call up the guy right before a big briefing which richard grenell, the guy who left this campaign actually set up and said the campaign has requested you not speak on this call. it's best to lay low now. so go on the down low, we don't really want you to be known to be our spokesman because you're gay. why do people put up with this? >> well, they shouldn't, but i honestly believe -- >> why doesn't he tell him to stay? >> too much

the romney camp is saying it didn't pressure grenell to resign.d out to ask him to reconsider his decision. in a statement, they said we are disappointed that he decided to resign from the campaign for his own personal reasons. we wanted him to stay because he had superior qualifications for the position he was hired to fill. as for romney's stand on gays, the topic came up during a debate in january. >> i don't discriminate and the appointments that i made when i was governor of massachusetts, a member of my cabinet was gay. i appointed people to the bench regardless of their sexual orientati orientation. >> it's a loss on many levels says clark cooper, the head of the log cabin republicans which represents gay republicans. cooper worked alongside grenell, during the bush administration. if anything so-called social conservatives celebrating rick's resignation is actually an impediment on the party and it certainly doesn't help the romney campaign. >> wolf, he declined our request for an interview and in the statement he issued yesterday when he

you shake it up and we start it all over again. >> he had this to say about rick grenell today. >> weim to stay. he felt for his own reasons that he couldn't serve effectively and we were disappointed that he decided to resign. i can't speak for rick. but i think that he felt his effectiveness was going to be compromised, that he couldn't carry out the job the way he wanted to do it. >> joining me now is fred carter. fred, does it surprise you that the romney campaign would hire an openly gay staffer two weeks ago and not be able to hold on to him, that the pressure would build to him to this point? >> yeah. i mean, it's a very sad day for this country, that a bigoted bully like brian fisher can force a campaign like mitt romney's who was trying to extend an olive branch with a brilliant appointment of an immensely talented to let him go. i'm not sure i buy eric's comment on that. i think that he was forced out. >> the huffington post reports, speaking to a campaign source, saying the main source of the criticism was from a person on the far right that romney had taken on before, the

and the romney campaign insists that grenell was not pushed out for being openly gay but brian fisherwing family american association is claiming victory. >> so ladies and gentlemen, this is a huge win and it's a huge win for us in regards to mitt romney because i will flat off and you are not going to make that a homosexual activist. >> the case of rick grenell is involving a campaign staff and may help some forget an earlier romney staff controversy. >> well, i think he hit a reset button for the fall campaign and everything changes. it's almost like an etch-a-sketch. you shake it up and we start it all over again. >> he had this to say about rick grenell today. >> we tried to persuade him to stay. he felt for his own reasons that he couldn't serve effectively and we were disappointed that he decided to resign. i can't speak for rick. but i think that he felt his effectiveness was going to be compromised, that he couldn't carry out the job the way he wanted to do it. >> joining me now is fred carter. fred, does it surprise you that the romney campaign would hire an openly gay staffe

put anti-llbg judges on the kpourt court and with the silence of the governor on grenell's leaving and influence from bryan fischer on the ilk, what are we supposed to make of that. >> sni think personnel is policy. and who you hire tells a lot about who you are. and who you have forced out of your campaign tells you who you are pt grover norquist crowd -- >> wait be a governor norquist is very support of gays and lesbians. >> all of these guys together seem to have more power than mitt romney, anyway. thank you clark cooper of log cabin which supports, not the firing of people like this. thank you. >> up next, this is it. today's the end, by the way, end of the line for newtster. he finally quit the campaign. now he said he will work to get romney elected. a guy he disspieses. what about all of the mean things he said about him in the campaign? you're watching "hardball." when's the show? well, if we don't find an audience, all we'll ever do is rehearse. maybe you should try every door direct mail. just select the zip codes where you want your message to be seen. print it yourself or

publicly implore grenell to come back?hy won't he demonstrate his backbone on this, if he really believes that. >> that's the point i was just saying. there has been a fumble. they can correct this. there's still enough time where the candidate -- >> are you calling him to do that? >> we already have. so that's not news. and the thing is for -- to move forward is to actually stand up for employment, non-discrimination policies in the workplace. discrimination in the workplace anywhere is unacceptable. >> absolutely. [ overlapping speakers ] >> sorry. >> i'm so sorry, because i'm so fascinated by this, mr. cooper. we were talking about this in the war room this morning, and we just don't -- we don't understand why the log cabin republicans feel at all welcome in the republican party. we would tell you on the democratic side, come on over just be part of us. why do you have to sit there and take it from the far right extremes, and have people be pushed out. >> yes don't have to take it. are more allies in the republican part

we have an update for you on the richard grenell story.d grenell, quote, very accomplished and he wanted him to say. he resigned saying that curve backlash against his sexuality made it impossible for him to do his job. the romney advisor called those critical of grenell, quote, voices of intolerance, empathizing that romney only considered his qualifications and not his sexual orient. but in an interview right here on current tv with "the young turks," the indicated radio host said he knew exactly what he was doing. >> he thought he could get some mileage out of this. really play to independents and make him look like a moderate. he was using him as cover. >> mitt romney has promised the base that he would pass a marriage amendment if elected. >>> george zimmerman collected $200,000 through his own crude website before his defense attorney shut it down. now they reopened a new website, saying they are registered and said they would use paypal if anyone would like to remain anonymous. very, very excited about that and very proud of that. >

now richard grenell is an out outloud and proud homosexual. know there is constant stories about raiding gay bath houses and gays having sex in public parks and public restrooms. this is endemic in the homosex homosexual community, these random, frequent, anonymous sexual encounterers. this becomes an issue when it comes to appointing someone to a post as sensitive as national security spokesman on foreign policy. >> not only he was gay but he dared to admit his existence. how dare we. do you know he was also in favor of gay marriage? how can you be in favor of your own rights. how dare he. i love that random snipe. you know they have sex in public and in bathrooms? i believe straight people do that as well. i'm pretty sure i've seen that. now, unfortunately for the republicans, people like brian fish railroad victorious. they alwaysfisher are victorious. >> my ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly disminute initialed by the hyper partisan discussion. >> except when they force to you resign. just left out that

quite a resignation from the romney campaign this week this is his foreign policy spokesman richard grenell resigned on tuesday afternoon and here's the explaining why. it's higher had just been announced but mitt romney's openly gay and now former foreign policy spokesperson richard grenell has stepped down following criticism over his sexuality and appointment within the campaign. ok he looks good by now we're going to have to just kidding i live but yes he was an openly gay aide and there was such so much hoopla out there that he actually had to resign over it which i think people are jumping to conclusions on this grinnell was appointed and he came under fire from yes the social conservative right but also from leftist groups like think progress attacked him because he'd been somewhat less than cautious with his words on twitter in addressing certain female members of the media so it was kind of a no win situation after he got a point you know and we don't know why he stepped down we know the new i mean campaign is him to stay he says that they begged him to stay can't he himself said t

rick grenell, well known to the foreign policy press as the spokesman at the u.n. for john bolton, yes, very edgy, challenging to the media but also for john neg ra possibilitiy and jack dan forth. so we have his credentials in foreign policy. now there is the denial from the campaign he was forced out because he is gay. or was he forced out because he's too edgy or because he's too controversial or -- because there was pressure from the left and the right wing. i can't imagine they would have conceded to left wing using that term pressure, but were they conceding to right wing pressure over his being openly gay? >> whatever the circumstances it's very unfortunate development. i was thrilled when i saw that the romney campaign hired him. i thought it was the right thing to do, he has unquestioned credentials, sends the right signals. then for this to happen just weeks after is disappointing, it's frustrating for a lot of us republicans who like to see more people like grenell in positions of authority and as spokespersons for the campaign. it's unclear, i know that

grenell is openly gay.ras of the outcry in the two weeks that he was there, he was never used in the capacity for which he was hired. yesterday mr. grenell stepped down writing i quote my ability to vehicle clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyper partisan discussion of personal circumstance that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign. the question i need answered is in 2012 someone can't be hired because he's gay? really? come on. this is america. where have we gone? how horrendous is this? joining me is republican strategist and former mccain adviser, ford o'connell and here new york democrat strategist and president of whitman insight strategyies. i just don't get it. >> well, we know that's not true. there is a lot of gay republicans, and i definitely think from a 30,000-foot perspective this doesn't look good for team romney but there seems to be a lot more variables at play than gay politics. there are reporters at work at the u.n. and off colored twitter fee

david thanks for joining us on "the young turks." >> thank you. >> first let's talk about grenell.nk hand there? >> it's a strange story, because the romney people knew what they were getting with rick. and he is -- has a very clear voice. he is not just openly gay, but he has been a forceful advocate for equal marriage rights you know about him. and the pressure he came under was not exactly forceful people. and the people who spoke up were quite marginal people. it sounds like what happened the romney campaign said look rick just lie low. just be quiet for a few minutes, and he took that -- he didn't like that. he had not yet moved to boston from california and he said i don't want to be in that kind of an organization and then quit. the thing that i think is quite sad, this was a tremendous opportunity for romney. romney could have had his sister soldier moment, and said this is my guy, i'm sticking with him, i'm the nominee, and this is a party that is open to everybody. >> that gets to question of who is in charge of the republican party. look at mitt romney and he seems like

grenel. about him, he wrote about rachel maddow saying she needed to take a breath and put on a necklace. he said hillary clinton was starting to look like madeline albright. note to children, when your mom's a grandma, don't let her wear a backless dress. he then deleted. i think something like 800 tweets he deleted when he took the job. these tweets were taken before he took the job. and then on the left -- i mean on the right, there was a sense that bringing in somebody who was openly gay was a very anti-family, i think is a quote that was used. >> for the sake of accuracy, let's make clear. this is not about republicans or mitt romney's campaign being unaccepting of gay people. that's not what this is about. this guy has been attached to republican figures for quite a while. he worked for john bolton, it's not about whether or not this guy was openly gay. the ones -- the people that are opposed seemingly opposed to richard grenel were opposed to his advocacy for same-sex marriage. now, is

one gop advisor said it's not that the campaign cared whether ric grenel was gay.believed it was a nonissue but didn't want to con front the religious right. mitt romney went on fox news, not to defend him. instead he offered this reaction. >> we wanted him to stay with our team. he's a very accomplished spokesperson. we select people not based upon their ethnicity or sexual preference but upon their capability. ♪ we are the world >> really. his senior advisor gave a more passionate defense. >> there were voices of intolerance that expressed themselves during this debate. that was unfortunate. mitt romney has confronted the voices of intolerance. he did it last october on stage at the values voters summit where he denounced some of the poisonous language that's being used by some of the same people who had criticized ric's appointment. >> makes a lot of sense to me but that response didn't sit well with bryan fisher. earlier this week he called the departure a huge win for social conservatives. now fisher's attacking romney's botched response calling it a classic r

he wins the nomination and one week later he hires an openly guy richard grenell who is exceptionallyfor the job but the radical base goes nuts. >> was it a pause in the breeze? maybe there is a lull in the weather pattern, and he was stuck in in the theological right. it makes no sense for him to bow down to the right at that point instead of broadening his base. i was mystified about i think it shows that mitt romney will cave to anyone. >> which does not give anyone comfort of any political stripe as what he will do as president of the united states. paul krugman was here, and he said we don't know what he believes because he has said so many different things at different points of time. you think president obama will do something that is helpful? >> the buck stops in the oval office, that's what harry truman said and the president can overrule his staff who made this mistake and he can sign this policy in the next few months. >> you think the president was not involved in the first decision not to sign it? >> i don't know either way. but i know staff misca

because put everything aside, there is no question that richard grenell was qualified for the job he was hired to do. >> i agree. mr. romney engaged the president on the issue of the chinese disdeny now pleading for u.s. asylum and alleging that he was pushed out from shelter at the u.s. embassy. take a listen to romney. >> if these reports are true, this is a dark day for freedom and for the obama administration. we are a place of freedom here and around the world and we should stand up and defend freedom wherever it is under attack. >> i have to ask you, is this not premature politicalization? first of all, the secretary of state is actually in china and second, this is an extremely fragile evolving and delicate situation with a man whose life and indeed his family's life is at stake. and mitt romney just throws himself in and makes comments about the president. >> if you read closely between the lines you will see that mitt romney is in favor of freedom. i mean, it is an absurd statement. it doesn't say what he would do which might be somewhat relevant to the presidential race. th

but it seems that grenell's sexual orientation was an issue for mitt romney and his team. they allowed social conservatives to call the shots on personnel issues. romney's silence on the matter speaks volumes on who mitt romney is as a leader and as a person. let's turn to karen finney, msnbc political analyst and former dnc communications director and democratic strategist chris kofinis. chris, good to have you back with us. it's about time. >> thanks, ed. >> i want to play this for you. here's romney's senior adviser, with eric fernstrom, moments ago, talking about this. >> yeah, and that's disappointing. whenever there are voices of intolerance within the party or the democratic party, for that matter, it doesn't matter where it's coming from, it's disappointing. and the governor has taken the opportunity in the past to denounce those voices of intolerance. >> karen, can we believe this? >> of course not. i mean, they sent a very clear message that their party and their campaign is hostile to people who are openly gay, in the way they've sent the message they are hostil

he said brian fisher, the radio host had attacked grenell.i quote, when he quit, this was a huge win. did he leave because he was gay? >> well, first let me correct you. he wasn't two weeks on the job. he was scheduled to start may 1 and of course we were disappointed that he chose to resign ahead of his start date. we tried to persuade him to stay. look, we hired rick because he was supremely qualified to serve as our foreign policy spokesman. this is a guy who spent eight years at the u.s. mission to the united nations. he served four different u.s. ambassadors, including ambassador john bolton. we thought he would have filled a very specialized need that we had for someone who could speak on foreign policy and national security matters. we tried to persuade him to stay. he felt for his own reasons that he couldn't serve effectively and we were disappointed that he decided to resign. >> so you did try to persuade him to stay? i'm just curious, because his statement and i just want to quote it directly to get your response. he said, quote, m