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Thompson and Romney Radio Foe Joke About Open Mics
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ShareAugust 19, 2007 8:30 AM
ABC News' Teddy Davis and Christine Byun Report: Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., joked Friday about open mics just moments before being interviewed by Jan Mickelson, the radio host who caught a combative -- and unsuspecting -- Mitt Romney on tape earlier this month.
"I always followed an open mic policy when I was in a radio station --always assume," said Thompson.
"That's a good policy," replied Mickelson as the two men broke into laughter.
The exchange took place Friday in Mickelson's radio booth at the Iowa state fairgrounds just before Mickelson began interviewing the Republican presidential hopeful on WHO-NewsRadio 1040. The former Law & Order actor was making his first trip to Iowa as a presidential hopeful. He stopped at Mickelson's radio booth before delivering remarks to fairgoers from the Des Moines Register's Soapbox.
Thompson made his comments about following an "open mic policy" after Mickelson said in jest, "I can see you've got your Tourette's under control so you don't swear like you used to," adding, "as you well know, Iowa is an English-only state so any cussing that gets done needs to be done in English."
At no point during the interview was Romney -- or his recent sparring with Mickelson -- explicitly mentioned.
The Romney subtext, however, was hard to miss.
Earlier this month, when Romney's radio interview with Mickelson paused for a commercial break, the former Massachusetts governor engaged in a heated discussion of his Mormon faith unaware that the animated exchange was being recorded by a DV camera. "This is only my opinion, off the air," Mickelson told Romney during the commercial break. "I think you are making a big mistake by distancing yourself from your faith." "I'm not running as a Mormon," Romney said during the lengthy exchange, "and I get a little tired of coming on a show like yours and having it all about Mormon." Watch the Romney-Mickelson exchange HERE: Read an account of the exchange by ABC News' Jake Tapper HERE:
Thompson's pre-interview conversation with Mickelson were captured when ABC News was given permission to sit in Mickelson's radio booth across from the two men during the interview and pre-interview period.
As dozens of fairgoers peered at him through the radio booth's windows, Thompson was asked how Iowa "tasted".
"I feel like a fish in a fishbowl," said Thompson. "You never get used to it."
August 19, 2007 in Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (0)
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