Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:19 am
Friday night, former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and Congressman Tim Ryan appeared on MSNBC to address Romney’s cruel lies. In Defiance, Ohio Mitt Romney fear mongered Ohioans with the lie that Chrysler is moving Jeep operations to China.
Strickland said it “showed a lack of judgment and a lack of truthfulness.” Ryan said that Romney didn’t consider the impact of his comments on Ohio’s working families, and “This is the same kind of business that these Republicans do. They troll around on the internet. They find one story that’s made up and they use it.”
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TRANSCRIPT
SCHULTZ: Governor, you first. I mean I can only think that this is only a complete disservice to the people of Ohio to go out in front of a crowd and erroneously put out information that cuts right to the fabric of what this election is all about and that’s jobs. What’s your reaction to this Governor?
STRICKLAND: My reaction is that Mitt Romney is a desperate man. He knows he’s losing Ohio. If he loses Ohio he’s losing the election. But for him to do what he did is despicable. Think of the angst that those workers felt when they heard him say that. And obviously, it showed a lack of judgment and a lack of truthfulness. This man is not ready to be the President of the United States of America. As Jon Huntsman said during the primary season, he is like a well- oiled weathervane, you never know where Mitt Romney’s going to be on any issue on any day. And this is just the latest example of his desperation in trying to reach the Ohio voter, but Ohioans have figured this guy out, they know who’s on their side and it’s Barack Obama and Joe Biden. And that’s why I am convinced to my depths that Ohio is going to do the right thing and the President is going to be reelected with Ohio’s support.
SCHULTZ: Congressman Ryan, you know accuracy is important in your business. To be a public servant and to stand up in front of people and say something that’s flat out false, doesn’t this speak to the character of Mitt Romney to play with people’s emotions like this?
RYAN: I don’t think, Ed, there’s any doubt about it. It does show the kind of coldness that we saw with him at Bain Capital. The kind of detachment when he talks about these issues. That he did not even consider, as Governor Strickland just said, the families that would have been affected in Northwest Ohio by his comments. They have had enough problems dealing with the Romney policies, the Bush economic policies, the way they have handled things. But he’s not happy with that. He comes in and continues to try to scare people. This is a consistent pattern, though, Ed. This is the same kind of business that these Republicans do. They troll around on the internet. They find one story that’s made up and they use it. Whether it’s Todd Akin using it, like his science that he has for legitimate rape or the goofy stuff that these guys come up with climate change. Now he finds an article saying something about China. God knows where it’s come from. He peddles it as the truth in Ohio. But the reality on the ground is so much different. People are working now because of Obama so this nonsense doesn’t work.
END TRANSCRIPT
Mitt Romney doesn’t care if something is true – he cares if the lie will service him in getting votes by representing him as something he’s not. By claiming that Jeep is moving jobs to China, Romney is attempting to distract from the Bain owned company that IS shipping jobs to China, Sensata. He is also desperately trying to paint himself as a friend to the auto industry in the critical swing state of Ohio.
But Romney is the one who preened proudly over his “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” editorial in the primaries, gloating about not writing checks. Not only did Romney end up making money off of the auto bailout, but he also falsely claims that he presented the same idea as Obama.
Romney leaves out the crucial moment and idea of the Obama auto rescue, and that’s the time between getting funding and declaring bankruptcy. The auto makers needed a bridge loan and no one in the private sector was going to give it to them. Romney advocated against giving that bridge loan. Without the bridge loan, it would have been too late. This isn’t a matter of opinion; it’s a well established fact.
So, in order to run away from who he really is, Romney tells lies about Jeep, fear-mongering Ohio families with the idea that their jobs are gone.
The cold cruelty of Romney being willing to do that and not giving it a second thought because it benefited him should preclude him from even running for office.
But our media is having none of that. In their world, this is a horse race between two good choices, when in reality, Romney has never been a good candidate and the fundamentals of this race have not changed. Romney had a one week debate bounce, but that was expected and not a game changer.
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