Mitt Romney Won't Face 'Sharp-Tongued' Women of 'The View'
WALTHAM, Mass. - Ann Romney will visit the women of ABC's "The View" solo Thursday, her husband no longer available to appear on the show he once referred to as "high risk."
Co-host Barbara Walters announced on the show this morning that she was told over the weekend Mitt Romney could no longer make the appearance.
"Governor Romney was supposed to be on with us this Thursday with Ann Romney," Walters said. "We were looking forward to it. Over the weekend, his people have said that he had scheduling problems, and would not be coming on with us, nor did not feel that he could reschedule. We are happy to have Mrs. Romney on with us, and are sorry that we won't have Governor Romney, and that's the situation."
Walters left the door open for Romney to "change his mind," adding that it would "be our pleasure to have him on the show."
Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for the Romney campaign, said in a statement to ABC News that "it was no longer going to work in the campaign schedule but Mrs. Romney is very excited to join the ladies of The View."
In September, leaked footage from a fundraiser showed Romney referring to the show as "high risk" because of what he called some of the "sharp-tongued" co-hosts. Following the leak, the campaign said at the time that Romney would be willing to appear on the show in October.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck, one of the co-hosts who is the known conservative of the five, said that she had reached out to the campaign after the remarks and they had confirmed that the Romneys would "love to once more join the sharp-tongued chatter in October."
Co-host Sherri Shepherd said at the time that she wasn't sure how Romney could be able to "handle the country" if he can't "handle four sharp-tongued women."
In the leaked video, Romney is heard saying that while "The View" is "fine," it is "high risk because of the five women on it, only one is conservative and four are sharp-tongued and not conservative."
President Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt tweeted a link to the news that Romney would not be appearing on the show with the comment, "View was apparently too "high risk" for @MittRomney."