Romney doubles down on misleading Jeep claim Chrysler called ‘fantasies’

[Playinghardball]

Speaking to voters in Ohio recently, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said that President Barack Obama’s auto bailout has been such a failure that auto-maker Jeep is “thinking of moving all production to China.”

Although journalists, and even Chrysler itself, quickly pointed out that claim has absolutely no basis in reality, the campaign did not immediately offer any clarification or correction. On Sunday, it became clear why they didn’t bother.

Romney’s misleading claim about Jeep is now a television ad designed to push back against criticism of Romney’s prior stance, which he explained in a 2008 editorial titled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” The carefully worded ad doesn’t repeat Romney’s objectively misleading claim that Jeep is moving to China, but it does leave viewers with that impression, and it accomplishes this by leaving out two very important pieces of context.

The Romney campaign told Huffington Post reporter Sam Stein that the ad is based on a story that appeared last week in Bloomberg News. However, that story says quite plainly that Jeep’s president, Fiat CEO Mike Manley, “referred to adding Jeep production sites rather than shifting output from North America to China” (emphasis added).

Raw Story (http://s.tt/1rdJd)

[Brickbat]

1. You know, spreading information that can have a material effect on a stock price isn't something you

do just for the hell of it. I'd like to see Chrysler slap this down a little more strongly.

[ladjf]

8. That's stock price manipulation. nt

[emulatorloo]

2. Do we have a news media that will report this on television? Or will they keep looking the other

way?

The guy is a HUGE liar. He should not be anywhere near the Presidency.

[MightyMopar]

3. To the RAPEpublicons a lie is better than the truth since they want to replace reality

The corporate media including NPR are complicit in constructing and maintaining this false narrative.

[Zalatix]

4. This bullshit from the dude who is moving Sensata to China? Unbelievable.

[EC]

5. I hope that this pisses off some that were going to vote

for him. Just for the panic he's trying to stir. Man, this guy is just bad news.

[spanone]

6. lies are now as acceptable as the truth...that will be the legacy of this election.

[nc4bo]

7. Crystler has the money. Easy to produce an ad dispelling the rumor. Really easy.

Why not?!

[Major Hogwash]

9. And yet not a word about it from the mainstream media!!

Not one word about all of the lies that Romney has told over the last year and a half.
Starting clear back in 2008 when he said, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt" in an op-ed piece he wrote for the New York Times.

Yet, now he says he "saved" Detroit.

Somehow, that doesn't make any sense, since Romney was not even in office -- any office -- then.

[mfcorey1]

10. Sue his arse!!!!

[justiceischeap]

11. This is just horribly irresponsible.

As someone else mentioned, it could hurt their stock prices but besides that, it unjustly makes the Ohio economy look shaky when everyone is worried about the economy. I understand this is a scare tactic but it's just horrible. If he will do this to win votes in Ohio, think of what lies he'd tell to the American people if President and the sad part is, if you try and explain this to Repubs, they'll deny it, won't listen or bring up Benghazi.

[NickB79]

12. Romney made millions outsourcing US jobs to China

Even if it were true that Jeep were moving production to China (which it's not), why would he now all of a sudden have a problem with it? HE'S DONE IT FOR DECADES!