Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said a “vast left-wing conspiracy” in the media was working with the Obama campaign to coordinate attacks against him.
“There will be an effort by the quote vast left-wing conspiracy to work together to put out their message and to attack me,” Romney said in an interview with Breitbart.com. “They're going to do everything they can to divert from the issue people care about, which is a growing economy that creates more jobs and rising incomes. That's what people care about.”
The media has been a favorite target of the GOP presidential candidates so far in the primary season, particularly with Newt Gingrich, who on several occasions earlier in the cycle blasted debate moderators for questions he deemed inappropriate.
After one such incident, Romney criticized Gingrich for attacking the media.
“It’s very easy to talk down a moderator,” Romney said after a January debate. “The moderator asks a question and then has to sit by and take whatever you send to them. And Speaker Gingrich has been wonderful at attacking the moderators and attacking the media.”
On Tuesday, Breitbart.com host Larry O’Connor alleged that some nonprofit organizations, such as Media Matters, were illegally coordinating with the Obama campaign in an effort to take Romney down.
“If people are bending or breaking the law then we’re going to have to focus on that and do something about that,” Romney responded. “I don’t know how much is related to that, or how much is just that many in the media are inclined to do the president’s bidding, and I know that’s an uphill battle we fight generally.”
Both Gingrich and former candidate Rick Santorum have alleged that some conservative outlets, such as the Drudge Report and Fox News, have been in the tank for Romney.
