Richard Grenell, who on Tuesday quit
the Mitt Romney campaign, will be lending a hand in the campaign to
reelect California Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack.
Grenell
abruptly resigned from his post as foreign policy spokesman under
mounting pressure from social conservatives opposed to an openly gay
man working in the Romney campaign.
He said in a statement that his
“ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been
greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal
issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign.”
Chief among his critics was Bryan
Fischer of the Christian conservative American Family Association.
Fischer argued that the hire signaled
support for gay rights from the Romney campaign.
He
tore into Grenell's sexual orientation on his AFA-sponsored radio
program, Focal Point, claiming
that gay men are about “short-lived relationships and frequent
anonymous sexual encounters,” though he added that he wasn't
certain whether Grenell, who is in a 10 year relationship, “indulged
in that.”
Later, Fischer called on Romney, a
Mormon, to condemn gay sex if he wanted the evangelical vote.
“So,
Mitt Romney's church teaches this conduct is considered sinful. …
Governor Romney do you agree with the teachings of your church?”
Gay
GOP group Log Cabin Republicans said Romney had lost a qualified
conservative spokesman.
“It
is unfortunate that while the Romney campaign made it clear that
Grenell being an openly gay man was a non-issue for the governor and
his team, the hyper-partisan discussion of issues unrelated to Ric's
national security qualifications threatened to compromise his
effectiveness on the campaign trail. As a Bush Administration
colleague of Ric, I can attest to his experience and qualifications
in the national security portfolio. Ric was essentially hounded by
the far right and far left,” R. Clarke Cooper, executive director
of Log Cabin Republicans, said in a statement.
In a
tweet late Tuesday, California Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack said
Grenell was returning to California and would help on her campaign.
“Richard
Grenell is coming back to his home in Palm Springs & has offered
to help with my campaign. That's terrific,” she messaged to her
more than 8,200 followers.