By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and HELENE COOPER
Published: May 1, 2012
Richard Grenell, an openly gay and longtime Republican foreign policy spokesman hired last month by Mitt Romney’s campaign, abruptly resigned on Tuesday after anti-gay elements in the party criticized his appointment and some Republican advisers said Mr. Grenell had been sidelined by the campaign during a busy foreign policy week.
Stephen Hilger/Bloomberg News
Richard Grenell in 2006. His hiring last month was criticized by anti-gay Republicans.
The Romney campaign issued a statement saying that it had sought to keep Mr. Grenell from quitting. And according to some Republicans, while Mr. Grenell’s sexual orientation was not an issue for the campaign, the Romney team had cut Mr. Grenell out of the loop on some issues after feeling a surprising pressure from some social conservatives.
The departure underscores some of the challenges the Romney campaign faces as it tries to broaden its appeal to more moderate voters without alienating the social conservatives who make up the party’s base.
Mr. Grenell’s appointment drew quick criticism from some on the Christian right, with Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association saying on Twitter, “Romney picks out & loud gay as a spokesman. If personnel is policy, his message to the pro-family community: drop dead.”
Mr. Grenell had also been criticized for writing snarky Twitter messages before joining the campaign, including an attack on Rachel Maddow, the MSNBC host, that suggested she looked like Justin Bieber, and another that questioned whether Callista Gingrich’s “hair snaps on.”
According to three Romney campaign advisers with knowledge of the conversations between Mr. Grenell and the campaign, the resignation came despite calls from many of Mr. Romney’s most senior staff members, including his campaign manager, who pleaded with Mr. Grenell not to leave. But Mr. Grenell was emphatic that the controversy would leave him marginalized and overshadow the benefits he might bring to the organization, they said.
Mr. Romney’s campaign manager, Matt Rhoades, said in a statement: “We are disappointed that Ric decided to resign from the campaign for his own personal reasons. We wanted him to stay because he had superior qualifications.”
In a statement, Mr. Grenell said that “while I welcomed the challenge to confront President Obama’s foreign policy failures and weak leadership on the world stage, my ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyperpartisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign. I want to thank Governor Romney for his belief in me and my abilities and his clear message to me that being openly gay was a nonissue for him and his team.”
The pressure from the right was all the more surprising because Mr. Grenell was widely seen as a loyal conservative during eight years as the director of communications for four ambassadors to the United Nations during the Bush administration. He was particularly close to John R. Bolton, the diplomat and lawyer known for his personal bluntness and hawkishness.
R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay Republican advocacy group, said in a statement that Mr. Grenell “was essentially hounded by the far right and far left.” He added, “Ric made the choice that he feels is best for the Romney campaign.”
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