DEFIANCE, Ohio—Meat Loaf opened Mitt Romney’s rally here Thursday night with a rambling speech that laced into President Barack Obama on the Cold War, China and “hail storms in the Middle East.”
The hard rock legend said he had never endorsed a presidential candidate before Romney — who joined him on stage to sing a few bars from “America the Beautiful” — but ended his set by telling the 12,000-strong crowd in northwestern Ohio, “Keep rockin’, and Mitt Romney!”
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The Texan singer faulted Obama for saying at Monday’s debate that the Cold War has ended.
“I have never heard such a thing in my life,” he said. “The man needs to understand [Vladimir] Putin and Russia.”
Meat Loaf also said he felt compelled to endorse because of the problems facing the world.
“I have never been in any political agenda in my life, but I think that in 2012 this is the most important election in the history of the United States,” he said. “Because there has (sic) storm clouds come over the United States. There is (sic) thunder storms over Europe. There are hail storms – and I mean major hail storms! – in the Middle East. There are storms brewing through China, through Asia, through everywhere.
“I have been arguing for Mitt Romney for a year. I made three phone calls today to Democrats in California, and I got two of them to switch to Romney, so two out of three ain’t bad.”
