Romney Blasts 'Poisonous Language' of Fellow Speaker

Mitt Romney got his turn at the podium at the Values Voter Summit today, though he didn't address yesterday's very public slam by a Baptist pastor that Mormonism is a cult. Instead, he criticized the "poisonous language" of the speaker who was to follow him—Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association—who has blamed gays for the Holocaust and suggested that the First Amendment doesn't apply to Mormons because they're not Christians, reports Politico.

“Our values ennoble the citizen and strengthen the nation. We should remember that decency and civility are values too,” said Romney. “One of the speakers who will follow me today has crossed that line, I think. Poisonous language doesn’t advance our cause. It’s never softened a single heart nor changed a single mind.” Romney "was greeted with slightly delayed, mild applause," writes Dan Amira at Daily Intel, "but we're not sure many people in the room had any idea what he was talking about. (Pastor Robert) Jeffress's anti-Mormon remarks from yesterday are a much bigger story than Fischer's anti-Mormon remarks from the past, but for whatever reason, Romney left Jeffress alone." Click for more. (More Mitt Romney 2012 stories.)