Mitt Romney Ad Misquotes President Obama
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Mary Ann Chastain/AP Photo
ABC’s Z. Byron Wolf and Emily Friedman report:
Mitt Romney’s inaugural TV ad of the 2012 campaign aired today in New Hampshire just as President Obama traveled to the state, but the ad immediately came under fire from Democrats and fact-checkers for incorrectly quoting Obama.
The White House, the Democratic National Committee and Obama’s re-election campaign accused the Romney campaign today of unfairly twisting the president’s words.
Politifact , which monitors the accuracy of campaign statements, gave Romney’s ad a “Pants on fire” rating.
The Romney video uses footage from Obama’s trip to New Hampshire in 2008. In the ad, text rolls over the screen reading, “On October 16, 2008, Barack Obama visited New Hampshire. He promised he would fix the economy. He failed.”
As video footage shows vacated business and foreclosed homes, Obama can be heard saying, “If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.”
But the ad does not make clear that in the speech Obama was actually quoting an aide to his Republican opponent at the time, Sen. John McCain.
The Romney campaign did not deny that it took the president’s words out of context and even provided Obama’s full quote in a press release accompanying the ad: “Senator McCain’s campaign actually said, and I quote, if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.”
It’s a reference to an anonymous quote by a McCain adviser that appeared in an Oct. 2008 New York Daily News article.
“Now, the tables have turned – President Obama and his campaign are doing exactly what candidate Obama criticized,” the Romney campaign said in a statement. “President Obama and his team don’t want to talk about the economy and have tried to distract voters from his abysmal economic record.”
Democrats pounced on the ad as misleading.
“I mean, what — seriously? I mean, an ad in which they deliberately distort what the president said? I mean, it’s a rather remarkable way to start, and an unfortunate way to start,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters during the trip up to New Hampshire.
Romney’s campaign spent less than $150,000 to run the ad in media markets in New Hampshire, but it has already gotten a far wider airing on cable news and on the Internet.
ABC News’ Michael Falcone contributed reporting.
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Lies make baby Jesus cry. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Does anyone know if the Mormon faith believes in the ten commandments?
Posted by: AppeaseThis | November 22, 2011, 5:06 pm 5:06 pm
Romney starts his campaign with a lie. There is one more down the crapper as far as I am concerned.
Posted by: BikernAz12 | November 22, 2011, 5:07 pm 5:07 pm
So what’s new.
A politician lying about another politician.
Anyone who thinks they are going to elect a politician who is honest, fair and cares about the American people are chasing a moonbeam.
The definition of politician is: a self centered, power hungry, money grubbing, low life form that lives under rocks and feeds on the misfortune of others.
It’s time for a revolution. Let’s take back the government and install part time, non paid representatives just like they did for the first 60 years of our country. Men who will agree never to write a book, sell their influence, lobby, sell their notoriety in exchange for anything of value, and never accept employment from anyone who has had business before the government.
Posted by: Brad Naksuthin | November 22, 2011, 5:24 pm 5:24 pm
Is Romney’s flip-flopping same as lying?
Posted by: tom | November 22, 2011, 5:42 pm 5:42 pm
I saw where McCain called Romney to have him rescind that commercial, calling it an out and out lie!
Posted by: blind spot | November 22, 2011, 5:43 pm 5:43 pm
An out and out deception from a man who professes honesty and integrity! He insulted the American public by deliberately taking a quote out of context and manipulating it into his ad.
He has lost all credibility and needs to drop out of the race now.
Posted by: Paul Price | November 22, 2011, 5:44 pm 5:44 pm
So Romney is a liar
Posted by: tom | November 22, 2011, 5:45 pm 5:45 pm
Perry did something very similar in his add. In the general election the Obama campaign will be able to accurately quote whoever the Republicans nominate in context while the Republican will need to misquote Obama. By that time the average voter may not be able to tell the difference.
Posted by: Greggw | November 22, 2011, 5:48 pm 5:48 pm
Isn’t it wonderful to know that Barry will run for re-election in 2012 based on his long list of accomplishments, and won’t engage in any negative campaigning?
ROTFLMF’inAO!!!!
Posted by: End_ofan_Error | November 22, 2011, 5:55 pm 5:55 pm
How is that a misquote? Taken out of context perhaps, even though the sentiment of which Obama intended towards McCain is the same as Romney intends towards Obama. Keep carrying the water ABC.
Posted by: Taxed | November 22, 2011, 5:58 pm 5:58 pm
Flip Flopper yesterday, today he is a LIAR, tomorrow what??? This guy is done.
Posted by: sam | November 22, 2011, 6:10 pm 6:10 pm
It’s not a quote….the ad is showing irony… idiots!
Posted by: pcn | November 22, 2011, 6:20 pm 6:20 pm
“I mean, what — seriously? I mean, an ad in which they deliberately distort what the president said?
Quotes, misquotes, whatever. Personally I would have used the “we are the ones we have been waiting for” and then showed Detroit in the background.
Posted by: david | November 22, 2011, 6:27 pm 6:27 pm
Romney starts his campaign with a lie. There is one more down the crapper as far as I am concerned.
Posted by: BikernAz12
_________________
That depends on whether or not it’s a lie. Obama really IS keeping silent on the economy because he knows he’ll lose if he talks about it.
As for “one more down the crapper”, you may be very disappointed this coming election when one of these candidates kicks the “crap” out of Obama..
Posted by: spike | November 22, 2011, 6:36 pm 6:36 pm
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LOLOLOLOL Dream on, Toots. If this is the caliber that YOU want as President, you are a fool. TWICE in the last week he has put his foot in his mouth. I thought this man was intelligent, but I guess not.
Posted by: Chloe | November 22, 2011, 6:50 pm 6:50 pm
I trust the character of Romney 100%. The man has been vetted extensively for over 6 years. Obama has been treated pretty much with kid gloves and has not been subjected to the scrutiny of other candidates.We need real change now!! Romney is the nominee to challenge Obama. Romney is not the left over candidate, or a default. That delusion is a result of media reports that are unfounded and based on 6 years of unrelenting vetting. In contrast, Obama was not vetted at all and it shows. I think you will find Romney is the man with the best chance to unseat Obama among the widest demographic. Most people I know have decided on Romney. He is calm and thinks things out. Romney has business and government experience that is sorely lacking in Obama and most of his Republican opponents. He has the best chance to turn the economy around because of his experience and history of working across party lines. He is not flashy, but a good stable man who loves his country and will do the best job. On the health care issue, he has the most experience as to what works and what does not. I think he will be able to offer some real help in that area and it will not include a Federal takeover. .
Posted by: Connie Davis | November 22, 2011, 7:17 pm 7:17 pm
Politifact? Please that is his a Chicago based propaganda orginization has been fact checked on numerous ocasions and were found to be biased. Please find a reputable source next time ABC.
Posted by: Lloyd | November 22, 2011, 7:36 pm 7:36 pm
Just love it when those christian values the republicans claim to have come out. Even this old evil democrat knows better than that.
Posted by: Jeff burge | November 22, 2011, 7:36 pm 7:36 pm
What quote, did Mitt Romney quote Obama? All I saw was Obama talking with his own voice!! I saw Obama saying all those things, so how is this Ad a lie?
Posted by: O Mat | November 22, 2011, 7:51 pm 7:51 pm
Guess he does not think he can win without lying and being deceitful. Romney is the ultra-phony. Tries to pretend he is one of us, but he’s just not. Ask the good people of Massachusetts who got to find out what an arrogant jerk he is during his stint as governor.
Posted by: Suzan | November 22, 2011, 8:22 pm 8:22 pm
Romney maybe a Mormon, but with sooo many lies he surly is not Christ-like. What is worse is the fact that these lies are to and for the purpose of fooling fellow Republicans. Has this man no SHAME???a
Posted by: ManOhMan | November 22, 2011, 9:08 pm 9:08 pm
“Pants on fire” indeed. And on more than one level.
The claim that Obama has “failed” to “fix the economy”, while a vague, relative one, distorts the facts almost to the point of an out-and-out lie.
When Bush left office, we were losing 850,000 private sector job a month, and had been losing between that number and 250,000 or so EVERY MONTH for a year.
Currently, we are in the 18th consecutive month of private sector job GROWTH (with between 50,000 and 250,000 new jobs added monthly during that time.)
Consumer spending is up, businesses are projecting increased hiring and expansion, and growth, as measured by the GDP, is slow but steady.
The recent increases in the unemployment rate are almost entirely atributable (according to the BOL figures AND most economists) to losses in the PUBLIC SECTOR (most of them under REPUBLICAN/TEA PARTY administrations nationwide post mid-terms).
So, it COULD be said that Obama “failed to fix the economy”, but it could also, more truthfully, be said that he HAS, compared to what it WAS when he took office.
O MAT: “All I saw was Obama talking with his own voice!! I saw Obama saying all those things, so how is this Ad a lie?”
In the same way as if you saw the quote above (YOURS) in MY post and it was characterized as something *I* wrote/thought (rather than a quote from you which I cited.) Sheez, do you REALLY not get that? Enough low-info voters like this, and we are in big trouble.
Posted by: Raven | November 22, 2011, 9:24 pm 9:24 pm
Lloyd: “Politifact? Please that is his a Chicago based propaganda orginization has been fact checked on numerous ocasions and were found to be biased.”
Fact checked by whom? When? On what, exactly? Glenn Beck (who won their “Liar of the Year” award not too long ago, and who, on his show, LIED AGAIN when he said they had nothing to back it up when, in fact, they had 2 pages of documented LIES he’d told on their site to back it up!)
Someone like that?
I’ve always found Politifact to be an equal oppourtunity debunker, with plenty of rulings AGAINST Democrats/Liberals who lie or distort. They do indeed check the FACTS and hold claims made up to them, regardless of party.
The apparent fact that the Right distorts and lies MORE, and so tends to get called out on it by Politifact MORE as a result, is not a “bias”. If they lied less, they’d be called out less.
Posted by: Raven | November 22, 2011, 9:34 pm 9:34 pm
I wonder if this site will expose the distorting ads that the Obama machine will run against the Republican nominee. Yeah, right.
Posted by: s | November 22, 2011, 9:40 pm 9:40 pm
I find it disturbing that Romney would put a lie in his ad, as it was a sure thing to be noticed as untrue and commented on as such.
What was the point, for us to know he can lie?
Posted by: Librarian53 | November 22, 2011, 9:42 pm 9:42 pm
Anybody claiming that Obama’s failed economic policies are good for the country are either delusional, on meth or a liberal (or all three). No intellectually honest person who can read beyond a 7th-grade level would conclude that our economy is benefitting from the disaster (aka, Obama).
Posted by: s | November 22, 2011, 9:42 pm 9:42 pm
I don’t much care for Romney but My God folks, I would vote for any clown who ever lived than Obama who is out to destroy the country and is doing a great job of it because of liberal idiots voting for him. Of course, his minority base is going to be there but why would northern liberals be there unless they hate their country.
Posted by: rockychance | November 22, 2011, 10:20 pm 10:20 pm
Romney got lots of bad press for this. Tea Party & narrow minded republicans will like it, but it may drive more independants toward Obama, or at least away from Rommney.
Posted by: malibujim | November 22, 2011, 10:24 pm 10:24 pm
So wait… Candidate Obama in 2008 accused John McCain of not wanting to talk about the economy because, “if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” Now in 2011, Romney’s add essentially accuses President Obama of the exact same thing, using Obama’s own words no less to drive home the point, because “if we keep talking about the economy, [he's] going to lose.” And what’s Team Obama’s response? To talk about everything but… the economy. I guess the commercial must have really hit a nerve.
Posted by: Russ | November 22, 2011, 10:30 pm 10:30 pm
The point is that Obama doesn’t want this election to be about the economy because if it is, then he loses, since 16% of Americans are either unemployed ( 9%) or underemployed ( 7%).
The Romney campaign already explained itself and released the full text and context. They know Obama was quoting someone else, but that is the point..
The ad should probably come down though because the media will make this a top story.. as they adore Obama as their saviour.
Posted by: John | November 22, 2011, 10:38 pm 10:38 pm
Wow! First time in history this ever happened!
Posted by: newcountryman | November 22, 2011, 11:10 pm 11:10 pm
Why can’t the TV stations running these lies be held responsible for running such lies?
Posted by: Virginia Kozlowski | November 22, 2011, 11:42 pm 11:42 pm
It doesn’t matter if Romney lies or Gingrich plays around. Their oh-so-gullible fans will chose to believe them even when what they say and do is idiotic.
Posted by: Cassandra | November 23, 2011, 12:24 am 12:24 am
You’ve got to admit that Romney’s contempt for his followers – attacking a Democrat for saying something that was actually said by a Republican – and serving it up without blushing – is pretty darned funny!
Posted by: Cassandra | November 23, 2011, 12:29 am 12:29 am
Re: “I trust the character of Romney 100%. ” <=SEE! I told you they'd be gullible enough to back him!!!
Posted by: Cassandra | November 23, 2011, 12:34 am 12:34 am
Where are the Obama fact checks??? The liberal media covers for him by not reporting them. And who fact checked ABC’s story that said that Romney named nameS for VP pic. He did not. He mentioned ONE name and he only said it to be polite to the Senator sitting with him. He specifically said he would not name names. ABC LIES! Somebody call Fact Check!!!!
Posted by: CajunW | November 23, 2011, 12:42 am 12:42 am
Shame on Mitt Romney. Do you really want people to think all Mormons are liars? How can you allow this ad to continue and actually feel good about it? It just reinforces the idea that you are a liar. Stand for something. Ridiculous.
Posted by: Susan Booth | November 23, 2011, 12:44 am 12:44 am
I don’t consider it a lie when that is exactly what Obama is doing. He does not want to talk about what a failure he is.
I’m just wondering if the other shoe is going to drop. If Obama quoted this from McCain’s campaign to beat him with it, it makes sense that this may NOT have been the first time that Obama used this quote but from then on I wonder if he made it his theme…therefore making it his own. I don’t know but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did and the Romney will next come out with Obama saying this as his own words over and over again on the campaign trail.
Posted by: Hannah Rebekah | November 23, 2011, 1:34 am 1:34 am
Romney is schizophrenic.
Posted by: Iolani | November 23, 2011, 2:04 am 2:04 am
Romney breitbarted him. That’s a common Republican tactic nowadays, to take a quote out of context and use it to make a false claim about that person. Obama was breitbarted by Romney.
Posted by: Mike | November 23, 2011, 2:14 am 2:14 am
The fact is that it is a statement that Obama made and it is true in substance despite the context. End of story.
Posted by: Uaint | November 23, 2011, 2:53 am 2:53 am
Why are liberals afraid to call Obama out on his broken promises about the economy? Why is Obama campaigning in NH instead of governing? Last time I checked the economy is in trouble.
Posted by: Uaint | November 23, 2011, 2:56 am 2:56 am
The voting public are the losers in this ad business. From now until 11/06/2012 we will be bombarded with lies, character assasingations and pure flith that candidates and their surrogates will heap upon us. Neither side is guiltless in this.
Posted by: Bob Ramos | November 23, 2011, 6:07 am 6:07 am
APPEASETHIS asks “Does anyone know if the Mormon faith believes in the ten commandments?” I’d have thought everybody did. They are Christians and the Ten Commandments are a very basic tenet of that faith.
Posted by: 2hundredthousand | November 23, 2011, 7:25 am 7:25 am
Forget for a moment that the quote was a sleazy tactic. Just focus on the point that Romney was trying to make: that Obama doesn’t want to talk about the economy. How does that jive with Romney’s criticism for Obama being out of the White House so often talking about … Duh … The economy? Not only is the ad slime for the distorted quote, but it contradicts Romney’s previous complaint about Obama. Does that qualify as a “flip flop”? I’m pretty much Independent and would love to see a viable candidate, but Romney is doing his best to lose me … And other independents.
Posted by: Doug Poretz | November 23, 2011, 7:35 am 7:35 am
The racist, lying, cheating, cultist is the favorite of the GOP. Are you sure this is the same party that cried crocodile tears because Obama was born in Hawaii?
Posted by: arryandan | November 23, 2011, 8:46 am 8:46 am
ALL Conservatives are not for Romney, because he has been on the side of raising taxes, same sex marriages and a countless array of Liberal ideas, Heck… he forced everyone in his state to purchase Romney-care . And yes…. there are many that put GOD before a Romney’s election.
This man lies to his own base, why would anyone want to vote for him? Guess many are looking for more of the same.
Posted by: ManohMan | November 23, 2011, 11:32 am 11:32 am
This is really sleazy. Mitt Romney should withdraw from the race. I thought he might be a decent president, but not after this. What is the Mormon church position on this? If he signed off on this ad, he should ashamed. If his staff did it without his knowledge, he should fire them and apologize to the President. This is an undisguised lie. Now I wonder how much truth there is in anything he does or says.
Posted by: Gary | November 23, 2011, 10:16 pm 10:16 pm
Mitt Romney made a VAST personal fortune as a hedge fund manager at his company Bain Capital. And how? OUTSOURCING middle class jobs here in America and shipping those pesky middle class American jobs to dirt cheap Marxist/Communist China. This man is valueless. He did however teach many americans a new skill: How to fill out first time unemployment applications. And where was he? On his bigger, better, larger yacht celebrating with his banker hedge fund buddies sipping ever finer champagne while toasting all of us as we lumbered by on our way to the unemployment lines. Wow, is that Mormon family values? Send American middle class jobs to the atheist communists so a CEO can haver a bottle of 35 year old Scotch? Valueless Mitt.
Posted by: gutsycall | November 23, 2011, 11:28 pm 11:28 pm
Mormonism was discredited today. Lying is not what we do.
Posted by: TrueMormon | November 23, 2011, 11:29 pm 11:29 pm
You all really think the country will be better off with Romney or for the matter any of the GOP candidates than with Obama? It’s easier say than done. Obama did make all those promises, but you think he’s a god or what? He can’t change things over night when all the GOP candidates, in the Senate and House care about is Obama’s job for the past three years, the Presidency, NOT the American people.
Posted by: iReport | November 24, 2011, 2:09 pm 2:09 pm
Don’t blame Mormons for Romney being a liar. Blame Politicians for Romney being a liar. He’s a politician before a Christian, as he apparently has no problem bearing false witness, especially if he thinks he can win. Up next, Romney takes a widow’s last shekel, then claims it was to mock the Democrats.
Posted by: chicka | November 29, 2011, 9:12 pm 9:12 pm
Well, this makes it easy. Romney is off my list. This is usually how election years go. By the time they get down to 2 candidates, virtually ALL of them will have done something so reprehensible that I cannot vote for any of them. So I have to choose between Satan and The Devil.
Posted by: mrman | January 9, 2012, 7:12 pm 7:12 pm
Not only is it a lie, it’s a bad one. Obama IS talking about the economy. He saved the auto companies and has done nothing but create private sector jobs. Romney wants to go back to the Bush policies that made the mess.
Posted by: ignatz | March 12, 2012, 11:40 pm 11:40 pm