On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen made some controversial remarks about Ann Romney, the wife of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, about her ability to relate to economic issues facing women.
During a Thursday appearance on Fox News Channel’s “America Newsroom,” Ann Romney fired back.
“She should have come to my house when those five boys were causing so much trouble,” Romney said. “It wasn’t so easy.”
Romney said it was a “career choice” for her to be a mother and that her decision should be respected.
“You know, this is what is so interesting about this,” Romney said. “My career choice was to be a mother. And I think all of us need to know that we need to respect choices that women make. Other women make other choices to have a career and raise family, which I think Hilary Rosen has actually done herself. I respect that, that is wonderful. But you know, there are other people that have a choice. We have to respect women and all the choices that we make.”
She added that this “choice” is one that her husband realizes as a candidate for the White House.
“And by the way, Mitt respects women who make those different choices,” she said. “He had a lot of women in his life that have been his advisers that he listens to a lot of different women. And if I get a chance I want to tell you what women are telling me, and Hilary needs to know this because I’ve been on the campaign trail for one year, and guess what women are talking about, and I don’t care if they are stay at home moms, or they are working mothers, or grandmothers — guess what they are all talking about?”
“They are talking about jobs, and they are talking about the legacy of debt that we are leaving our children. That’s what I’m hearing. And that’s what we’re talking about here.”
Rosen had doubled down on her comments on CNN on Thursday, suggesting it pertained to financial struggles that Ann Romney couldn’t relate to. However, Ann Romney responded by saying she had other struggles to confront.
“Look, I know what it’s like to struggle,” she said. “And if maybe I haven’t struggled as much financially as some people have, I can tell you and promise you that I’ve had struggles in my life. And I would love to have people understand that Mitt and I have compassion for people that are struggling, and that’s why we’re running.”
“We care about those people that are struggling, and we also recognize that this economic recovery has been very weak. We also recognize that the debt burdens that we’re facing in this country are huge, and they are going to be a huge problem for our children.”
