US election 2012: Mitt Romney 'pushed sons' faces into plates of butter' The startled private equity boss responded by tackling him to the ground and wrestling him on the floor. He does like pranks but he doesn't like to get pranked. We've learned that the hard way," Josh said. The Romney campaign was earlier rocked by allegations made by five of the candidate's former classmates at the elite Cranbrook School, who claimed that as a teenager Mr Romney led a schoolyard gang that pinned down a gay classmate and slashed off his bleach-blonde fringe in a "vicious" attack. The Republican said he did not remember the incident but added: "If I did stupid things, why, I'm afraid I've got to say sorry for it." Many American voters were also shocked to learn that Mr Romney once put the family dog in a cage and tied it to the roof of his car during a 12-hour drive from Massachusetts to Canada. When Seamus, an Irish setter, defecated down the rear window, Mr Romney hosed him off at a petrol station and put him back on the roof. The Romney sons also revealed that they had tried to persuade their father not to make a second run for the White House, knowing it would bring their young families under fresh scrutiny. Matt Romney said: "I was really reluctant. I just felt like, for us as a family, this isn't the best thing.