Mitt Romney appeared on Univision Wednesday alongside Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas, but something was a little peculiar about his appearance -- his skin tone. Looking back at the hundreds of photos logging his every moment on the campaign trail, the Republican presidential nominee is usually not so shockingly tan.
While his orangey-brown appearance on Univision could have been the result of bad lighting or a makeup mishap, left-wing blog the Democratic Underground concluded that Romney "dyed his face brown for his Univision interview."
The claim is not completely out of the ballpark. After all, as Gawker points out, Romney did say "it would be helpful to be Latino," in a video secretly recorded at a campaign fundraiser earlier this year.
Appearing at a campaign fundraiser in Atlanta, Georgia, before his Univision interview, Romney showed a bit more color, but nowhere near the amount of bronze as seen on stage at the 6:30 p.m. ET filming.
If Romney did indeed alter his skin tone, it was likely done in the past few days. Three days earlier, on Sunday, Sept. 16, Romney appeared much paler when he landed in Missouri.
From left to right: Romney steps off his campaign charter plane on Sept. 16; Romney is introduced at a campaign fundraiser earlier in the day on Sept. 19; Romney speaks on stage during a Univision interview later in the evening on Sept. 19. (All photos courtesy of AP)
And on Monday, Sept. 17, when Romney addressed Los Angeles' Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, his face was a bit redder than usual.
With his bustling campaign schedule, Romney spending enough time outside to develop a natural tan of that color within the time frame is doubtful -- making it even more possible that he somehow altered his skin tone as Democratic Underground suggests.
Though the intentions behind this plausible move are a mystery, some have ventured to make a guess, speculating that Romney's "brownface" is an attempt to appeal to Latino voters -- a voting bloc Romney desperately needs if he hopes to win the election.
Romney is currently trailing nearly 40 points behind Obama in Latino support.
Check out clips from Romney's interview in the video above and tell us what you think about Romney's color in the comments below.
