CAMPAIGN 2012

Axelrod Calls Romney ‘Most Secretive Candidate’ Since Nixon

Updated: July 6, 2012 | 10:21 a.m.
July 6, 2012 | 8:03 a.m.

In an interview with CBS Radio News on Thursday, President Obama’s senior campaign adviser David Axelrod called Mitt Romney “the most secretive candidate we've seen probably since Richard Nixon,” pointing to an Associated Press report that Romney has undisclosed assets in an account in Bermuda. 

Axelrod repeated the claim on Friday on CBS’ This Morning, adding that the Romney campaign is trying to “turn the clock back 50 years” on transparency. He noted that Romney’s father, who was once himself a presidential candidate, set a precedent by releasing his tax returns for multiple years, but that Romney himself has not embraced that standard.

“What happened after Nixon is we as a country said we need a higher level of disclosure,” Axelrod said. “Governor Romney and his campaign have stone-walled and are trying to turn the clock back 50 years on transparency and disclosure.”

Axelrod also said on CBS that TV ads the Obama campaign is running, which accuse Romney of outsourcing American jobs during his time at Bain Capital, will remain on air, despite the fact that FactCheck.org disputed the content in those ads. 

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