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What's Behind That White House Door? Just Ask Ann Romney

Ann Romney in New York on Friday tapes an interview with Fox's Neil Cavuto. She also spoke with ABC's Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan.
Richard Drew
/
AP
Ann Romney in New York on Friday tapes an interview with Fox's Neil Cavuto. She also spoke with ABC's Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan.

Along with political agendas and visions for the future, every once in a while along the campaign trail there are potential TMI moments.

Arguably, one occurred Friday when Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, were taping ABC's Live! With Kelly and Michael in New York.

The interview is scheduled to air Tuesday. But notes from a pool reporter traveling with Romney show what happens when an invited White House guest — in this case Ann Romney — decides to do some poking around 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

When asked by Kelly Ripa about her most embarrassing moment, Ann Romney talked about a long-ago White House visit.

Here's the report from the Wall Street Journal's Colleen McCain Nelson, Friday's pool reporter traveling with the Romneys:

Ann Romney speaking:
"We had the unbelievable pleasure of spending the night at the White House and the next morning I was like, exploring everywhere. And I was supposed to be at meetings and Mitt was like, 'Ann, you're supposed to go,' and I said, 'No, I'm exploring.' I went into one door, I was with Anita Perry [presumably the wife of Texas Gov. Rick Perry] by the way I'll put blame on her. And Anita and I were, like, 'We wonder what's behind this door?' It was George Bush having a massage." ["Crowd goes nuts," the pool report notes.]

After clarifying that it was George W. Bush she saw, Ann Romney continued:

"He was covered up but I was so embarrassed that the next time I did see him I didn't know what I was going to say to him. We were going down the elevator to an event together and I walked up to the elevator and am just like blushing, blushing, blushing, and he looks at me and he winks as he does and says, 'I look pretty good, don't I.' "

Again according to the pool report notes, Mitt Romney also offered details about how he and Ann started dating, when he was a senior in high school and she was a sophomore.

"She caught my eye" at a party, Romney said. "I went up to her and found she'd come with someone else. And I said to the guy she came with, 'You know, I live closer to Ann than you do. Can I give her a ride home for you?' And he said, 'Sure.' "

"He fell for that?" asked Strahan, a former New York Giants defensive lineman.

"Yeah, he fell for that," replied Romney. "So, we've been going steady ever since then."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Padmananda Rama

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