Ann Romney blames media for Mitt Romney loss

Ann Romney blames the media coverage for her husband's loss in the 2012 election. Ann Romney says "he wasn't given a fair shake" in the media.

Mitt Romney says his heart said he was going to win the presidency, but when early results came in on election night, he knew it was not to be. Ann Romney put a different spin on it:“I’m happy to blame the media.”

The GOP nominee and his wife told  "Fox News Sunday" that he knew his campaign was in trouble when exit polls suggested a close race in Florida. Romney thought he'd win the state solidly.

Obama ended up taking Florida and won the election by a wide margin in the electoral vote. Romney says there was "a slow recognition" at that time that President Barack Obama would win — and the race soon was over when Obama carried Ohio.

Romney says the loss hit hard and was emotional. Ann Romney says she cried. “The thing that was frustrating to me is that people didn’t really get to know Mitt for who he was,” she said. “People weren’t allowed to see him for who he really was.”

"It was not just the campaign’s fault, I believe it was the media’s fault as well,” she told Chris Wallace. “He was not being given a fair shake.”

The former Massachusetts governor acknowledged mistakes in the campaign and flaws in his candidacy.

But he joked that he did better in his second run for the White House than he did the first time around — when he lost the 2008 nomination to Arizona Sen. John McCain.

He says he won't get a third crack at it.

Romney says his campaign didn't do a good job connecting with minority voters, and that Republicans must do a better job in appealing to African-Americans and Hispanics.

He says his campaign underestimated the appeal of Obama's new health care law to low-income voters.

But he knows that because he lost the race, it's hard to tell the GOP to listen now to what he has to say about how to improve the party's message.

The Romneys are living in Southern California now and he's kept a low profile since the election. He says "you move on" from the disappointment and that "I don't spend my life looking back."

Ann Romney says that after the election she was approached by TV's "Dancing with the Stars," but declined to join the cast.

She says she'll be turning 64 soon and "I'm not really as flexible as I should be."

The interview was taped Thursday and aired Sunday.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.