Romney’s Sons Make Late-Night Appearance on “Conan”
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Win McNamee/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — All five Romney brothers — Tagg, Matt, Josh, Ben and Craig — made a rare public appearance together Wednesday evening in an even rarer venue: late-night television.
On Conan, all five of Mitt and Ann Romney’s sons sat down with Conan O’Brien and revealed they are worried about how their lives will change if their father makes it to the White House.
“We’re nervous about it,” Josh Romney said. “I mean, it’s one of those things. I mean, our lives are pretty good as they are. It’s one of those things where we recognize it’s good for the country for our dad to run but not necessarily good for us, so we are going to try and keep our lives as normal as consistent as they can possibly be over the next few years.”
Josh Romney mulled a public life himself, when he considered running for office in Utah where he now lives, for a House seat or for lieutenant governor, but ultimately deciding against it.
O’Brien then asked all five if they were reluctant to sign onto another grueling campaign.
Mitt Romney’s wife, Ann, likes to repeat on the stump that before the 2008 run for president, all five sons and all five daughters-in-law were on board, while this time around, only she and her eldest son, Tagg, encouraged Mitt to run.
“We knew what we were getting into this time, so we were definitely more hesitant,” Josh Romney said, before Matt agreed saying he was “really reluctant.”
“I didn’t want him to do it,” Matt Romney said. “I tried to convince him not to do it. I think there were a few of us who tried that. I know you didn’t (gesturing to Tagg), but I just felt like, for us as a family, this isn’t the best thing. But, as Josh said, for the country we think it’s the right thing.”
Ben Romney, the only fair-haired son and perhaps the least likely to hit the campaign trail for his father or send out fundraising mail like the others, got the biggest laugh when he interjected, “As you can probably tell, I love the limelight so I was really…” Loud laughter, mostly from the host, drowned him out.
The sons, who range from age 30 to 42, have campaigned alongside their father at events and made solo appearances to stump on behalf of their dad. Just last Sunday, Craig and Matt Romney, along with some of their children, joined Mitt Romney at a Father’s Day breakfast in Brunswick, Ohio.
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