Last updated on November 4th, 2012 at 11:17 am
President Obama spoke today in Hilliard, Ohio about workers who were scared by Mitt Romney’s lies about Jeep moving their jobs to China.
Watch President Obama’s remarks here:
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TRANSCRIPT OF PRESIDENT OBAMA’S REMARKS
And changing the facts when they’re inconvenient to your campaign – well, that’s definitely not change. But that’s exactly what Governor Romney has been doing these last few weeks. Right here in Ohio, you’ve folks who work at the Jeep plant who have been calling their employers, worried, asking if their jobs were being shipped to China. And the reason they’re been making these calls is because Governor Romney has been running an ad that says so. Except it’s not true. Everyone knows it’s not true. The car companies themselves have told Governor Romney to knock it off. GM said, “we think creating jobs in the United States…should be a source of bipartisan pride.” And I couldn’t agree more.
And I understand that Governor Romney has had a tough time here in Ohio because he was against saving the auto industry. And it’s hard to run away from that position when you’re on videotape saying the words “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” And I know we’re close to an election but this isn’t a game. These are people’s jobs. These are people’s lives. These car companies are put a lot of effort to make great product but also to make sure everybody in America knows how committed they are to making cars here in America. And so you don’t scare hardworking Americans just to scare up some votes. That’s not what being President is all about. That’s not leadership.
When I first made the decision to rescue the auto industry, I knew it wasn’t popular. Despite the fact that one out of eight jobs in Ohio are connected to the auto industry in someway, it wasn’t even popular in Ohio. But I also knew it was the right thing to do. I knew betting on American workers was the right thing to do. Betting on American ingenuity and know how was right thing to do. That bet paid off. It paid off in Lordstown, where GM is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in their auto plant. It paid off in Toledo, where Chrysler is adding more than 1,000 new jobs on a second shift – not in China, right here in Ohio. Right here in the United States of America.
And so one of the things that I hope when you’re talking to your friends and your neighbors, trying to make up their minds these last few days, think about that. Think about the issue of trust. Do you want a president who is actually to tell you what he believes and what he thinks or somebody who is going to – no – ya know, change the facts. After four years as President, you know me. You may not agree with every decision I’ve made. You may be frustrated sometimes at the pace of change. But you know what I believe. You know where I stand. You know I tell the truth. And you know that I’ll fight for you and your families every single day, as hard as I know how. You know that.
Chicago added, “GM is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in their Lordstown auto plant, Chrysler is adding more than 1,000 new jobs on a second shift in Toledo, and we saved more than a million jobs up and down the supply chain. The people of Ohio know they have a champion in President Obama, someone who they can trust to fight and stand up for them when it matters most.”
Sadly, having just watched a video of Romney supporters being interviewed and learning that they think Romney is “for all classes” unlike the “Muslim Communist”, I am sure a certain portion of the electorate will buy Romney’s lies. When you can’t run on your record and you can’t tell the truth about who you are, you are forced to lie and hope to peel off enough low information voters.
Romney won’t show us his tax returns, he profited off of the auto bailout and stashed the funds in tax free shelters, he won’t tell us his economic plans because it might hurt his campaign, and he won’t take questions from the press.
While Obama is a solid choice with a good record, voting for Romney is only possible if you are a misinformed, partisan, Fox-watching cultist. In other words, the know-nothings once again threaten the country with their failure to be patriots. Contrary to the right’s belief that patriotism is shouting “USA!” to drown out American workers fighting their jobs being shipped to China, patriotism requires being informed. It is every person’s civic duty to learn the most basic of facts before voting.
This is not a game. These are people’s jobs and their lives.
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Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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