Mitt Romney walks in the Wolfeboro Fourth of July parade in New Hampshire on Wednesday, July 4, 2012. (Photo Credit: Shawna Shepherd/CNN)
By CNN Political Unit
(CNN) — Late night comedian David Letterman says he isn’t upset with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
Rather, he feels sorry for him.
“I don’t hate Mitt,” Letterman said, referencing secretly-recorded comments Romney made at a fundraiser.
In the video posted online by left-leaning magazine Mother Jones, Romney talks about appearing on evening shows.
“I’ve been on Letterman a couple of times. I’ve been on Leno more than a couple times, and now Letterman hates me because I’ve been on Leno more than [on] him,” Romney says. “They’re very jealous of one another, as you know.”
President Barack Obama, appearing on Letterman’s show Tuesday, criticized Romney for other comments the candidate made in the fundraiser.
In an online advance clip of his Wednesday program, Letterman made light of the comments and invites Romney to appear on his show.
“I think now more than ever he and his lovely wife, Mrs. Mitt are more than welcome to come on the show,” Letterman said. “If you think you’re going to get to the White House, you’ve got to spend time in this chair.”
He made a jab at his fellow late-night comedian, saying that he doesn’t hate Romney for his appearances on Leno, because “why hate a guy who’s suffered through that?”
Letterman also sized up the industry.
Television comedians, he joked, are “very jealous and bitter and backbiting… unlike politics.”
