Romney Outraged by Ahmadinejad Request

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney greets supporters at a campaign rally in The Villages, Fla., Wed., Sept 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Joe Kaleita) (Joe Kaleita - AP)

THE VILLAGES, Fla. -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney expressed outrage Wednesday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asked to visit the site of the 2001 World Trade Center attacks, saying that Ahmadinejad himself sponsors terrorism.

"Can you imagine the audacity, the shocking nerve, the chutzpah to suggest he would visit ground zero, the handiwork of terrorists of the very kind he supports?" Romney told a crowd of about 2,000 retirees during a rally in this central Florida retirement community.

Ahmadinejad is arriving in New York Sunday to address the U.N. General Assembly. He asked authorities for permission to lay a wreath at the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Permission was denied.

The Florida crowd cheered Romney when he said a leader who has denied the Holocaust occurred, has talked about the destruction of Israel and is seeking to produce nuclear weapons shouldn't even have been invited to the U.N.

"If he has any extra time, why doesn't he go visit the Holocaust museum instead?" Romney said, to a chorus of people shouting "Yeah!"

Republican rival Rudy Giuliani, who was mayor of New York at the time of the attacks, was at an event in London, but issued a statement also saying the Iranian president's request shouldn't be allowed.

"This is a man who has made threats against America and Israel, is harboring bin Laden's son and other al-Qaida leaders, is shipping arms to Iraqi insurgents and is pursuing the development of nuclear weapons. Assisting Ahmadinejad in touring Ground Zero _ hallowed ground for all Americans _ is outrageous," Giuliani said.

Romney's speech followed a Lee Greenwood concert, ending with the retirees, many of them holding beer or cocktails, singing along to "God Bless the U.S.A" and waving tiny American flags.