Mitt Romney, U.S. Republican Presidential candidate attended the opening ceremony for the London Olympics alongside First Lady Michelle Obama and his wife Ann. Romney is on a European tour meeting with officials and other notable figures.
Romney and his wife Ann stood and waved to the crowd when the ceremony began. The candidate who arrived in London earlier this week has been under fire for a comment he made about London's preparedness of the Olympic games that set off British press.
Romney said during an NBC News interview on July 25, "It's hard to know just how well [the 2012 London Olympics] will turn out. There are a few things that were disconcerting. The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials, that obviously is not something which is encouraging."
At the same time, President Barack Obama praised Britain for its Olympic preparations. One day earlier, Prime minister David Cameron criticized Romney's experience helping to organize the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Romney critiqued London's security efforts calling them, "disconcerting." Cameron replied by saying, "Of course, it's easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere."
Mayor Boris Johnson said to a crowd at the Olympic cauldron-lighting ceremony on Thursday after Romney's insult, "There are some people who are coming from around the world who don't yet know about all the preparations we've done to get London ready in the last seven years. I hear there's a guy called Mitt Romney who wants to know whether we're ready. He wants to know whether we're ready."
On Saturday, Romney attended the men's 400 individual medly swimming event before leaving for Israel, his next stop on his foreign trip.
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