Mitt Romney Says He Feared Getting ‘Fired’
EmailABC News’ Russell Goldman and Michael Falcone report:
UPDATED:
ROCHESTER, N.H. — Mitt Romney attempted his own version of an “I-feel-your-pain” moment at a campaign event in New Hampshire on Sunday, telling a crowd that like so many Americans he too has worried about getting fired.
“I know what its’ like to worry about whether or not you are going to get fired,” Romney said. “There are times when I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip.”
The former Massachusetts governor, whose net worth is estimated to be in the range of $200 million, did not offer an example of one of those times, but Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul issued a statement:
“Unlike President Obama, Mitt Romney has spent 25 years in the real world economy. As a young person just out of college, he worked his way up the career ladder knowing that his continued employment was by no means guaranteed,” Saul said. “That’s the way it is in the private sector.”
Romney made the comments while explaining how his experience as a business sets himself apart from President Obama.
“I care very deeply about the American people, and it frightens me to see a president who has made so many mistakes when so many people were hurting so badly,” Romney said.
His remarks come on the same day that Romney said at an NBC News-Facebook presidential debate that his father offered him advice on getting into politics.
“He said, ‘Mitt, never get involved in politics if you have to win an election to pay a mortgage.’”
Romney’s everyman pitch took place at a opera house in a southern New Hampshire town, and it’s not the first time the presidential candidate, who is leading in the polls here, has tried to identify with the problems of working-class Americans.
At a campaign event in June in Tampa, Florida, he told an audience: “I should tell my story. I’m also unemployed.”
Back then, Democrats pounced on the statement. They did so again on Sunday.
“Romney admitted in one debate that he’d never known hardship or had to worry about paying a bill,” Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse said in a statement to ABC News, “but now that his past as a corporate layoff specialist is being exposed he wants to make people believe he feels their pain. That dog won’t hunt.”
At a December ABC News debate in Iowa, Romney was roundly criticized as being out of touch for attempting to make a $10,000 bet with rival candidate Rick Perry over a dispute about whether he changed a line in his book, “No Apology.”
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How can a rich boy, be afraid of getting fired, what would be the result? The aristocracy just doesn’t get it. Romney couldn’t get drafted, his son’s didn’t serve, told a woman who’s son was worried about college that he should join the guard, not knowing that a cousin of her son had just done that and had his leg blown off. Ah, the life of the rich, yes they know our pain.
Posted by: Mark Anderson | January 8, 2012, 6:45 pm 6:45 pm
Not that it matters, but Romney’s worth is estimated to exceed $250 million.
Yeah, he feels our pain, alright.
Posted by: Mary | January 8, 2012, 7:51 pm 7:51 pm
I’m just curious, have any of the millionaire’s (i.e., Mitt Romney’s) sons ever served in the military… ESPECIALLY, during the past 8 years that America’s middle class sons and daughters have been serving in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, like Huntsman’s two sons have been doing?
Tagg Romney, age 41… was 31 when 9/11 happened and 33 when the Iraq war started.
Matthew Romney, age 40… was 30 when 9/11 happened and 32 when the Iraq war started.
Joshua Romney, age 36… was 26 when 9/11 happened and 28 when the Iraq war started.
Benjamin Romney, age 33… was 23 when 9/11 happened and 25 when the Iraq war started.
Craig Romney, age 30… was 20 when 9/11 happened and 21 when the Iraq war started.
NOT ONE of them served their country in the past 10 years…. not one.
So Mitt, while you “fake” having worried about getting “fired” (as a millionaire) ….. many of real America’s middle class folks, that are the same age as you… worried about their sons and daughters getting “FIRED AT” as their sons and daughters honorably served their country in Iraq and Afghanistan.
You ought to try feeling the latter worry… it’s a lot more stressful than worrying about being “fired”, as a millionaire.
Just a note…. John Huntsman sons are serving their country.
Huntsman or Obama in 2012 ! ! !
Posted by: Proud Dad of VETS! | January 8, 2012, 8:17 pm 8:17 pm
WHY do they keep saying that President Obama never had a real job?? Didn’t they spend the entire campaign in 2008 screaming about his job as a community organizer? He was a law professor, too. WHY do they keep saying that? He was working to pay off his student loans, unlike Romney. Once again, they just lie and nobody calls them on it.
Posted by: Cate | January 8, 2012, 9:04 pm 9:04 pm
Cate | January 8, 2012, 9:04 PM….
LOL! …… Cate, because being a constitutional law professor, or anything that has to do with “educating” our society, is not a “real job” in the eyes of contemporary Republicans.
However, considering the low value that the contemporary right-whiners put on education, it sure does explain a lot regarding what some of them say in these ABC News comment sections.
Posted by: "R's" Are Fun To Watch | January 8, 2012, 9:32 pm 9:32 pm
Mr. Obama just spent $4 million for a tax payer funded 17 days vacation is Hawaii. Pelozi was spending about $10,000 per day on her vacation.
I`m sure the DNC was feeling the pain of the unemployed on the golf course.
Meanwhile, every single GOP candidate was working over time to prepare for the caucuses and primaries. Meeting countless people, speaking, debating, holding rallies, meet and greets, town halls.
Braving inclement weather, cold, discomfort, and a grueling schedule – they went from town to town and have run at times a marathon, at other times an all out sprint, in all cases they have put in an extraordinary effort.
In a merit society, we should recognize – and reward – the hard work and sacrifices that people put in.
Posted by: GOP | January 8, 2012, 9:47 pm 9:47 pm
GOP | January 8, 2012, 9:47 PM, SAID:
“Mr. Obama just spent $4 million for a tax payer funded 17 days vacation is Hawaii.”
==============================
LOL! …. Oh geeze. A Fox News viewer in the house.
You right-whiners believe just about anything, don’t you? Prove it.
Posted by: "R's" Are Fun To Watch | January 8, 2012, 11:38 pm 11:38 pm
Has there ever been a more disingenuous fraud as Willard Romney?
Romney wants you to believe that he’s had to worry about losing his job, paying his mortgage, paying for his kids college education, buying groceries and paying your electric bill. Good lord!! This is a man who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, who never really had to work – and has never shared the concerns of the majority of the population. His attempts to makes us believe that he’s like us is really insulting. His whole schtick, his lies, and his condescending attitude are truly offensive. Through his work at Bain, he has much more experience and obvious comprehension of destroying working class lives than he does improving them. What a freaking fraud.
Posted by: Jilli | January 9, 2012, 9:21 am 9:21 am
GOP | January 8, 2012, 9:47 pm post:
Dumbest post ever. Claiming that running for the office of president is somehow courageous or praise worthy is about the silliest thing I have ever heard. No one is forcing these people to do this. No one. They are all doing it for themselves. They are chasing the brass ring. Sure it’s hard. But certainly no harder than working two jobs seven days a week just to barely make enough money to feed, house, and clothe your family. Like millions of Americans do today. None of these Republican candidates knows privation. While on the stump as they are, they’re staying in the finest hotels, eating expensive meals, and wearing expensive clothes. Poor them! Your ode to them is obnoxious.
Posted by: A Cynic | January 9, 2012, 1:27 pm 1:27 pm