Mitt Romney blundered on the first day of his London visit with undiplomatic remarks on the Olympics.
David Cameron swiftly rejected the US presidential hopeful’s claim that Britain may not unite to “celebrate” the London Games.
The Republican sparked a backlash as he arrived in Britain by raising a series of questions over the staging of the Olympics in the capital.
“It’s hard to know just how well it will turn out,” Mr Romney, who is running to unseat President Barack Obama in November’s election, told NBC News from London, where he will attend the opening ceremony of the games tomorrow.
“There are a few things that were disconcerting,” he said.
“The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials -- that obviously is not something which is encouraging,” he warned.
Mr Romney also called into question whether the British people as a whole were behind the spectacle, saying this would be key to their success.
“Do they come together and celebrate the Olympic moment? And that’s something which we only find out once the games actually begin,” he said.
But the Prime Minister dismissed this suggestion and stressed he would be pointing this out to Mr Romney.
“In terms of the country coming together, I think the torch relay really demonstrated this is not a London Games, this is not an England Games, this is a United Kingdom Games,” he said.
“We will show the whole of the world not just that we come together in the United Kingdom but also we are extremely good at welcoming people from across the world.”
Mr Romney, a multimillionaire businessman and investor, was called in to head the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City after preparations were marred by scandal and has first-hand knowledge of how to put on a successful Olympics.
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