NAACP official: Romney 'rigged crowd' by having blacks 'flown in'

The director to the NAACP's Washington Bureau revealed on Thursday that GOP hopeful Mitt Romney had conservative African Americans "flown in" to the 103rd convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to make it appear that he had more support than he really did.

During an interview with Fox News host Neil Cavuto, Romney said that he had met with a "number of African American leaders" after his NAACP speech and they told him "a lot of folks" were disappointed in President Barack Obama.

On Wednesday night, MSNBC host Ed Schultz asked NAACP Washington Bureau Director Hilary Shelton which "African American leaders" Romney was referring to.

"The campaign actually gave me a list of African American VIPs that they brought in to the NAACP meeting," Shelton explained. "So, I'm sure those are the one they set down with because, quite frankly, none of the rank-and-file NAACPers met with him."

"He's talking about African American Republican politicians that were actually brought in -- flown in -- to the NAACP convention in Houston, Texas to be there for the [candidate] alone," he added.

"That means that Mitt Romney rigged the crowd to support him there so he could go on TV and say, 'You know, actually I got a lot of support among African American leaders,'" Schultz noted.

"Apparently, that's what the case is," Shelton agreed. "They are bringing people in that they know will support his agenda from other places that aren't active with the NAACP. These are people that were actually brought in to provide the cheering for him so there will be some support for him along those lines."

While Romney did receive some sparse cheers and applause during the speech, the loudest reaction came when the crowd booed him for vowing to repeal "Obamacare."

Watch this video from MSNBC's The Ed Show, broadcast July 11, 2012.

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(h/t: Politicus USA)