Romney Accepts MSNBC Apology for Segment on His Grandchild

Former Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney says he accepts the apology of MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry for making jokes about his African-American grandson.

"He was an answer to prayer, and we love that he's part of our family," Romney said on "Fox News Sunday." "That being said, I realize that people make mistakes, and the folks at MSNBC made a big mistake, and they've apologized for it. And that's all you can ask for. I'm going to move on from that."

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Romney said he has made plenty of mistakes himself, and that Harris-Perry's apology seemed heartfelt, so his family holds no ill-will.

Everyone recognizes that political figures such as himself are fair targets, Romney told Fox News, but children are "beyond the line."

The controversy occurred a week ago when Harris-Perry hosted a roundtable discussion that included comedians. The group looked at pictures taken throughout the year and made comments about them.

Then a photo of the Romneys with a group of 21 grandchildren came up, with the infant Kieran Romney, who was adopted by Mitt Romney' son Ben, sitting in Mitt Romney's lap.

One panelist sang "One of these things is not like the others," while another said it was symbolic of the lack of diversity in the Republican Party.

"And isn't he the most gorgeous?" Harris-Perry said. "My goal is that in 2040, the biggest thing of the year will be the wedding between Kieran Romney and North West [daughter of reality star Kim Kardashian and singer Kanye West]. Can you imagine Mitt Romney and Kanye West as in-laws?"

Romney told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace he had not heard that statement and had no comment on it.

In other issues, Romney defended the health care law, dubbed Romneycare, that he instituted as Massachusetts governor. He said it differed from Obamacare in that did not require people to buy a "gold-plated health insurance policy" rather than one that fits their needs.

Romneycare did not require birth control and maternity coverage for people who don't need it, he said.

Wallace pointed out one area where Romneycare and Obamacare are similar: Neither gives religious exemptions for birth control.

Romney pointed out that Catholic Church did not make complaints about Massachusetts' plan at the time as it is now about Obamacare, and that if mistakes were made he prefers to see them fixed at the state level rather than nationally.

Romney headed up the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002, just months after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, and he said he believes Russia's Olympic Games in Sochi will be safe despite two terror attacks  already in the area with promises to disrupt the Games.

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Still, he said, he would not have voted to allow Russia to hold the Olympics, considering its more autocratic stance and persecution of homosexuals. He compared their dampening of the Olympic spirit to that of Germany during 1936.

"They have a right to make their bid. But they do strain the view of people like myself," Romney said.