mr. grenell would be resigning. the report made it clear what it was that made it so mr. l 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

mr. 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.

mr. 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

mr. grenel or his hiring and the campaign has reponded to that and i am sure they would respond to you. i am not familiar with it and what i have seen in the public statements. they hire people on merit and qualification and ability to do the job. and leaving the campaign he made and not anded to do that. >> chris: on the bigger issue, seasonor and this was a point president obama made in the spoach. he said republicans and romney will take it back when it come to gay right and birth control and abortion? >> once again there is difference of opinions on the issues. on the issue of life, yes, sir republican party by and large. but there is diversit net republican party. there are things as pro choice republicans and view pro life in the democratic party and more tolerance in the republican party that being said. i am proud that they are a pro life on the issue of life. on the other issues that you have raised. i don't know anything about a contraception debate. i know about a religious liberty's debate and whether the federal government should have the power to enforce the religious inst

mr. 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

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. there is a pattern that we go thro

mr. chen and his family a safe existence there. >>> to american politics now, a top adviser for mitt romney is leaving the campaign. amid a storm of controversy, richard grenelleeks ago as romney's foreign policy spokesperson. the romney camp says he has resigned for personal reasons, but he had managed to upset some on the right and the left. he was scrutinized by some conservatives for being openly gay, and he was also slammed for twitter remarks that took jabs at democratic women for their physical appearance. >>> the governor of florida signing a bill that bans local governments in his state from doing business with cuba or syria. but governor rick scott admits the new law can't be enforced without federal approval from congress. the measure is scheduled to go on the books in florida in july. cuba and syria are labeled by the federal government as state sponsors of terrorism. >>> in cash strapped california, the governor's mansion is now up for rent. yes, you could throw a party in the place where ronald reagan raised his children if you have a few thousand dollars. it's 14,000 square feet with a pool and a spiral staircase. several of them actually. the