Gingrich calls for a halt to anti-romney ads
After accuracy concerns are raised, he asks that a ‘super PAC’ take them down.
Saying he does not want false claims made on his behalf, Newt Gingrich on Friday called on a “super PAC” that supports him to withdraw commercials it ran in South Carolina criticizing Mitt Romney and his former company, Bain Capital.
The Republican presidential candidate made the call to a crowd of supporters at his new Orlando campaign headquarters, saying there was no way he could legally contact Winning Our Future to make the request directly.
Winning Our Future aired a 29-minute commercial, fashioned as a political documentary, accusing Romney and Bain of greed. It features interviews with former employees of companies acquired by Bain who complain that the venture capital firm wreaked economic havoc on their small towns.
Rick Tyler, a spokesman for the PAC, responded that he was “aware of and [shared] the speaker’s concerns about accuracy,” and promised that a more thorough response would be forthcoming.
The full-length video, as well as 30-second TV ads based on it and two-minute versions available on the Internet, were roundly criticized by Romney and his campaign as inaccurate. Independent observers including the Washington Post have confirmed inaccuracies.
“It’s important why my campaign is different than some other people’s campaigns,” Gingrich told a crowd of about 150 supporters.
“I’ve said all along that these super PACS ought to have some sense of responsibility. The ad for example that Gov. Romney is running in Florida right now about me was given four ‘Pinocchios’ by the Washington Post, which means it was wrong at least four times in 30 seconds, which is not easy,” Gingrich said.
“This morning we found out this new 30-minute film on Gov. Romney and Bain has some factual errors in it, from the same Washington Post fact-checkers,” Gingrich said. “I am calling on this super PAC … to either edit out every single mistake or to pull the entire film.”
Also Friday, a federal judge rejected an attempt by Gingrich, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman Jr. to challenge the constitutionality of Virginia’s rules governing ballot access, citing the timeliness of the case.
The ruling means that only Romney and Paul will appear on Virginia’s march 6 primary ballot.
State law requires a candidate to get 10,000 petition signatures statewide, including a certain number in each of the state’s congressional districts.
Those signatures can be gathered only by Virginia residents.