Mitt Romney Calls Newt Gingrich 'Goldilocks' Over Debate Audience Complaints
ORLANDO, Fla. - Mitt Romney accused Newt Gingrich of being like "goldilocks" when he complained about debate audiences being too quiet and then too loud within the span of a week.
"Speaker Gingrich said the debate, before last night, that the crowd wasn't allowed to cheer and so he couldn't do so well, 'cause the crowd was too quiet," said Romney during a rally at a roof and concrete manufacturer. "Then, last night, he thought the crowd was too loud. … It's like goldilocks, you know: His porridge is too hot, the porridge is too cold.
"Look, I'm looking forward to debating Barack Obama. I'm not going to worry about the crowd. I'm going to make sure we tell the truth to Barack Obama and we get him out of the White House," said Romney, as the crowd roared in applause.
Kevin Kellems, one of Gingrich's senior advisers, told the Huffington Post that he believed the Romney campaign "packed the room" during Thursday night's CNN debate in Jacksonville, Fla.
The Romney campaign denied the allegations after the debate, saying it believed every campaign received an equal number of tickets to the event.
Earlier in the week, Gingrich pushed back after NBC's Brian Williams asked the audience to hold their applause until commercial breaks.
"We're going to serve notice on future debates," Gingrich told Fox News. "We're just not going to allow that to happen. That's wrong. The media doesn't control free speech. People ought to be allowed to applaud if they want to."