Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was booed Wednesday while speaking at the NAACP's annual conference in Houston, when he critcized the Affordable Care Act and criticized President Obama.
The jeers came as Romney delivered a version of his stomp speech, which was replete with criticisms of the nation's first black President and his job performance.
"I'm going to eliminate every non-essential, expensive program I can find, that includes Obamacare, and I'm going to work to reform and save –" Romney said before being interrupted for about 15 seconds.
"You know, there was a survey of the Chamber of Commerce — they carried out a survey of their members, about 1,500 surveyed, and uh, they asked them what effect Obamacare would have on their plans, and three-quarters of them said it made them less likely to hire people," he said when the booing stopped. "So I say, again, that if our priority is jobs, and that's my priority, that's something I'd change and replace."
The predominently black audience polite, but reacted harshly to his pledge to cut programs and repeal the healthcare plan. Romney was clearly caught off guard and stood speechless at the podium for a time, before continuing.
"With 90 percent of African-Americans voting for Democrats, some of you may wonder why a Republican would bother to campaign in the African American community, and to address the NAACP," Romney said. "Of course, one reason is that I hope to represent all Americans, of every race, creed or sexual orientation, from the poorest to the richest and everyone in between."
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