Mitt Romney’s Libyan moment (Google+ hangout)

The situation remained tense for U.S. overseas personnel Thursday, as diplomatic outposts through much of the Muslim world faced harsh protests from extremists. The demonstrations came a day after a mob killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three others.

The episode continued to resonate in American politics, as well, particularly because Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney argued that President Obama had sympathized with foreign protesters more than with the American victims. Romney charged that the president had made a “disgraceful” apology “for American values.”

That contention was fiercely disputed by the press and even by members of Romney’s party — who criticized both the candidate’s timing and his grasp of the facts. Andrew Malcolm of Investors Business Daily will join a video discussion of the episode at 3:30 p.m. PDT Thursday on Politics Now, along with your blog host, Jim Rainey.

PHOTOS: U.S. ambassador killed in Libya

We’ll chat about what Romney said Wednesday (Did Obama really apologize for an anti-Muslim video?) and talk about the political ramifications for the Republican candidate as foreign policy takes a rare moment at center stage in the 2012 campaign.

Many Republicans jumped to Romney’s defense Thursday, but others who are no friends of Obama — including John H. Sununu and Peggy Noonan — said they thought their candidate had been off base in attacking the president in a time of national crisis.

Malcolm, once a political blogger for the L.A. Times and a former spokesman for Republicans including ex-First Lady Laura Bush, will give us his perspective on Libya, Romney and where the campaign heads next.

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