Keith Olbermann Criticized For Suggesting Sen. Mitt Romney’s Family Get ‘Vasectomies’

Sports and political commentator Keith Olbermann posted a controversial Tweet in which he insulted the family of Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).

Romney had shared a Christmas photo of himself and 36 family members—his wife, their five children, 25 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. In response to the large family photo, Olbermann wrote, “Somebody gift these people some vasectomies.”

The tweet drew a mixed response. Some criticized Olbermann for reacting in such a negative way to the smiling family photo. Pro-life commenters censured his suggestion to curtail the growth of a large family.

Other commenters, meanwhile, voiced agreement with Olbermann’s sentiment. These commenters expressed disdain for Romney’s politics, or expressed concern that large families contribute to overpopulation and the climate crisis.

Despite the backlash that Olbermann’s controversial tweet received, Olbermann did not retract his sentiment. Instead, he continued to censure Romney.

He said that those who focused on the “joke” tweet and its backlash missed “its point entirely.” He suggested that, rather than focus on that element of the tweet, people should focus on the actions for which Olbermann criticized Romney. For example, in another tweet, he posted multiple images of Romney with former President Donald Trump, indicating that Romney was complicit in Trump’s misdeeds.

In addition, Olbermann discussed Romney’s personal criticism of Olbermann in 2020, due to the commentator’s denunciation of Trump. In Romney’s critique, the past GOP presidential candidate condemned the divisiveness and vitriol “on the left and right.” He included Olbermann in his condemnation, writing, “Keith Olbermann called the president a ‘terrorist.'”

In the Wednesday Tweet, Olbermann highlighted what he viewed as ironic about Romney’s 2020 statement. Olbermann suggested that Romney’s criticism involved defending Trump against allegations that would soon gain greater historical accuracy, due to Trump’s involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The commentator captioned his tweet, “While we’re on the subject of @MittRomney, a reminder that on October 13, 2020, just 86 days before the Terrorist Donald Trump engineered the worst act of domestic terrorism in our history, Mittens got mad at me for… calling Trump a terrorist.”