MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell on Thursday called out presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney over his promise to put a "filter to block pornography" on every new computer in the U.S.
"Mitt Romney talks about freedom a lot these days," but there is "one economic freedom that he wants to take away," according to O'Donnell. "That's right. Mitt Romney has flip flopped on everything including freedom."
As late as 2007, Romney had vowed to implement a policy that would restrict the freedom to browse the Internet.
"I want to make sure that every new computer sold in this country after I'm president has installed on it a filter to block all pornography, and that parents can click that filter to make sure their kids don't see that kind of stuff coming in on their computer," Romney said at an event in Ottumwa, Iowa.
Earlier this week, Morality in Media president Patrick Trueman, who was an anti-pornography prosecutor in President Ronald Reagan's Justice Department, told The Daily Caller that Romney's campaign had assured him that the candidate would "vigorously" crackdown on the porn industry.
"Even though Romney has profited from pornography through his investments -- including through his hotel investments where pay-per-view porn is a big profit center -- Mitt says he wants to limit your freedom," O'Donnell noted on Thursday. "He wants to limit some Americans' freedom to search for porn."
"The one business that Mitt Romney claims the most pride in is Staples," the MSNBC host continued. "Now, I don't have in front of me exactly how computers Staples has sold, but it's like millions. And Romney was in a position to put a porn filter button on every computer that Staples sold -- every single one -- and he didn't do it."
"Maybe this is just another empty Romney promise, porn filters on every computer in America. Still, that that kind of talk is pretty scary."
After conservatives blasted Romney in 2007 for doing nothing to stop Marriott from making millions on porn while he was chairman of the board's audit committee, the hotel chain finally banned porn in their hotel rooms early last year as the Republican primary race was heating up.
Watch this video from MSNBC's The Last Word, broadcast July 19, 2012.
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