Mitt Romney got emotional on the campaign trail Tuesday when he described a chance meeting with former Navy SEAL Glen Doherty at a Christmas Party in La Jolla several years ago. Doherty was one of two former SEALs killed in the Libya embassy attack on September 11.
According to several media outlets, Romney shared his story with a crowd gathered in Van Meter, Iowa. He said that he and his wife Ann had mistakenly attended the wrong Christmas Party near his La Jolla home, and ended up have a chance encounter with Doherty:
"He talked about his life. He skied a lot. He had skied in a lot of the places I had and we had a lot of things in common. He told me that he keeps going back to the Middle East. He cares very deeply about the people there. He served in the military there, went back from time to time to offer security services to people there."
Romney's campaign officials told reporters the party took place in either 2009 or 2010.
Doherty's mother Barbara, however, wasn't so charmed by the story. She told Boston television station WHDH-TV:
"I don't trust Romney. He shouldn't make my son's death part of his political agenda. It's wrong to use these brave young men, who wanted freedom for all, to degrade Obama."
You can watch the entire WHDH report here:
