Romney Appears in Univision Forum, Accused of "Dying His Face Brown" To Appeal to Latinos (Video)

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's appearance in a forum by Spanish-language network Univision Wednesday night in an effort to attract Latino voters may have backfired on him. Viewers took to social networking sites to complain that Romney had "dyed his face brown" to appeal to Latino voters.

Romney, who was interviewed by Univision co-hosts Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas and audience members, answered questions about immigration, education, jobs, health care and the economy, CNN reported.

Pressed about the issue of immigration, Romney said, "The immigration system, I think we all agree, is broken and it's been a political football for years and years...and it needs to be fixed."

"When I'm president, I will actually do what I promise, I will put in place an immigration reform system that resolves this issue," he added.

Romney was later asked if he would deport young undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children and he answered, "I'm not going to be rounding people up and deporting them. We're going to put in place a permanent solution."

However, much of what the presidential candidate said was overshadowed by his apparent and overly tan face. According HuffPost Latino Politics, left-wing blog called Democratic Underground said that Romney had "dyed his face brown for his Univision interview."

This accusation comes on the heels of a comment made by Romney that "it would be helpful to be Latino" to win the presidential election.

Many took to Twitter to discuss Romney's skin tone alteration. Twitter user @ChaiseCandie said, "I'm offended by Mitt Romney choosing to get a super crazy tan just so he'd look Hispanic when talking to us on Univision in Miami yesterday."

"Romney went in brownface to his Univision interview. Why is this guy still in the running? #Trainwreck #GOP," @14Bikes quipped.

Romney's motivations, if he in fact had them, behind his skin tone alteration are unknown. Some attribute it to his need to appeal to Hispanic voters. According to Latino Decisions' poll this week, the candidate trails Obama over 40 points among Hispanics (26 percent versus 68 percent).

President Obama will appear on the second part of 'Meet the Candidates' tonight at 10 p.m. EST on Univision. You can watch live here.

WATCH 'MEET THE CANDIDATES WITH MITT ROMNEY'