Mitt Romney Campaign Forbids Reporter From Asking About Todd Akin, Abortion

From: Kim J.

Sent: August 24, 2012

To: undisclosed recipients

Subject: Fw: Mitt Romney Campaign Forbids Reporter From Asking About Todd Akin, Abortion

A Denver reporter granted a one-on-one interview with Mitt Romney Thursday said she was instructed not to ask him any questions about abortion or Rep. Todd Akin's (R-Mo.) controversial comments about victims of "legitimate rape."

Shaun Boyd, a reporter for Denver CBS affiliate KCNC, was one of four local reporters to speak with Romney, according to the station. She said that the Romney campaign had set pre-conditions before allowing her to interview the candidate.

"You know, I had about five minutes with him, and we got through a fair amount of material, actually, in that five minutes," Boyd said on air. "The one stipulation to the interview was that I not ask him about abortion or Todd Akin -– he’s the Missouri Republican who created a firestorm after saying women’s bodies shut down in a legitimate rape to prevent pregnancy. I did ask him about health care, the female vote, and energy."

President Barack Obama's campaign has also been criticized over its handling of local interviews. According to reports, the president recently granted interviews with local TV stations designed to focus on sequestration.

Yet the Obama campaign insisted it did not "dictate the topics" of questions that could be asked, as the Romney campaign appears to have done. (Read More)