WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney has a new message for those who attack his Mormon religion: Back off. The Republican presidential candidate delivered it to Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday.
Romney challenged his chief rival to reject the endorsement of an evangelical pastor who claimed the former Massachusetts governor isn’t a Christian and belongs to a cult because he is Mormon.
“I would call upon Gov. Perry to repudiate the sentiment and the remarks made by that pastor,” Romney said in Lebanon, N.H., hours before a GOP presidential debate.
Perry, through a spokesman, refused to disavow the pastor, Robert Jeffress, who heads a 10,000-strong Baptist congregation in Dallas.
The issue raises the specter of religious bigotry and brings into sharper focus the difficulty Romney faces in appealing to evangelical Christians.
The Associated Press
