Mitt Romney Rejects Reports He Would Not Consider a Muslim in His Cabinet

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Lots of stories have circulated today about supposed statements Mitt made to a Muslim guy about the possibility of Mitt's appointing a Muslim to his cabinet.

FOXNews has one version here:

Mitt Romney said Tuesday that reports claiming he does not think a Muslim would be needed in his Cabinet are inaccurate, and that he would consider applicants "of any faith and ethnic group" for positions in a Romney administration.

"The people who would be part of my Cabinet is something that I really haven’t given a lot of thought to at this point," Romney said, speaking to reporters at a campaign stop in St. Petersburg, Fla. "But I don’t have boxes I check off as to their ethnicity."

Romney was responding to a critical opinion piece in Tuesday's Christian Science Monitor by Muslim businessman Mansoor Ijaz.

Romney disputed Ijaz's account of the conversation on Tuesday.

"That's not ... his question was, 'Did I need to have a Muslim in my Cabinet to be able to confront radical jihad and would it be important to have a Muslim in my Cabinet?' And I said, 'No, I don’t think that you have to have a Muslim in the Cabinet to be able to, to take on radical jihad any more than in the second World War where you needed to have a Japanese American to help us understand the threat that was coming from Japan," Romney said. "I just rejected that argument."

He said he would consider people of any faith, but that they would be selected based on merit.

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom later pointed out that Ijaz is a Democratic Party fundraiser, and said he carries a partisan political agenda. Ijaz has contributed to Bill Clinton, John Kerry and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He also contributed to Hillary Clinton eight years ago.

Then Jason at My Man Mitt writes prepares seven questions for Mr. Ijaz (the person issuing the claim about Mitt and Muslims):

1. You claim Romney made this comment directly to you at a fundraiser. As journalist, how were you able to get into a fundraiser? I am assuming you paid the entrance fee.

2. If you did pay the entrance fee, why would you donate money to Romney when according to the FEC records you solely donate to democrats? (Google search, “Ijaz Romney, page 2”)

3. Why is Romney’s answer directly quoted yet your question is not?

4. How are you able to remember Romney’s answer in such detail when in all probability you had no recording device, since press is not allowed at fundraisers?

5. if you did have a recording device, are yo willing to share the whole conversation with the rest of the world?

6. Why should I, a conservative who wants a conservative to win the presidency, believe the from-memory-account of a liberal pundit who donates quite regularly to the Clinton campaign?

7. Lastly, do you always write articles that make you sound like a disgruntled job applicant? Just curious.

Good questions.

Mitt should select people based on their merits. He should get the best advisors. Surely, among that group will include talented individuals from various racial, ethnic, religious, and other minority groups.