Obama doubles down on critique of Romney’s private equity experience
By JORDAN FABIAN
President Obama reaffirmed on Monday that he will continue using Mitt Romney’s private-sector experience as a centerpiece of attacks on his Republican opponent.
The Obama’s campaign critique of Romney’s past as head of Bain Capital — that the firm slashed jobs at companies it owned while reaping profits — hit a speed bump this weekend when one of the president’s surrogates, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, called negatives ads that cited Romney’s Bain experience “nauseating.”
Romney’s campaign seized on the comment, saying that it showed the Obama attacks are disingenuous. Other Republicans have pointed out that the president has courted campaign donations from same private equity crowd he has criticized.
The clamor surrounding the incident reached such a fever pitch that the president was asked about it during a press conference at the G8 Summit in Chicago, where he re-stated his case why Romney’s time at Bain is fair game while threading the needle to explain why his stance isn’t hypocritical.
“It’s important to recognize that this issue is not a ‘distraction.’ This is part of the debate that we’re going to be having in this election campaign about how do we create an economy from top to bottom,” Obama said.
“When you’re president, as opposed to the head of a private equity firm, your job is not simply to maximize profits,” he added.
