THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mitt Romney is under growing pressure to cut his ties with Donald Trump after he refused to denounce the businessman for continuing to propagate the so-called 'birther conspiracy' that Barack Obama was born outside the US.
The row over Mr Trump threatened to engulf Mr Romney on the day that he will be officially confirmed as the Republican presidential candidate after voters in the Texas presidential primary pushed him 'over the top', securing him the 1,144 delegates he needed clinch the nomination.
Mr Romney, who was due to be hosted by Mr Trump at a $2m (£1.3 million) fund-raising event in Las Vegas, declined to criticise the property mogul turned reality television star for saying last week that he still believes Mr Obama was born in Kenya.
"I don't agree with all the people who support me and my guess is they don't all agree with everything I believe," Mr Romney said on his charter plane en route to Nevada, "But I need to get 50.1 per cent or more and I'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people." Repeating the conspiracy theories over Mr Obama's birth has been widely condemned as "dog whistle politics" – or a thinly-veiled attack on the President's race – and leaves Mr Romney vulnerable to accusations that he's tacitly defending racism.
Although Mr Romney has said that he personally accepts that Mr Obama was born in Hawaii, his equivocating response to Mr Trump provoked fierce criticism from both the Obama campaign and commentators in his own party.
The Obama camp released a video comparing Mr Romney's refusal to distance himself from Mr Trump with the conduct of John McCain, the 2008 Republican candidate, who on several occasions publicly slapped down voters who suggested that Mr Obama was not American-born and a Muslim. » | Peter Foster, Washington | Tuesday, May 29, 2012
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