A 28-minute video created by supporters of Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich depicts front-runner Mitt Romney as “more ruthless than Wall Street,” according to Bloomberg News, which obtained a copy.
Set to be released on Wednesday in South Carolina, “When Mitt Romney Came to Town” centers on Romney’s time at Bain Capital, and centers on four companies that came under financial duress or filed for bankruptcy after being acquired by the private-equity firm.
The video depicts Romney and Bain as having profited significantly from the hardships of fired workers at the four companies. One interview with a woman who said she was fired and lost her home is followed by a clip of Romney saying, “For the economy to thrive, there are a lot of people who will suffer as a result of that,” according to Bloomberg.
At one point, the news service said, Romney is shown laughing and saying, “Make a profit. That’s what it’s all about, right?”
The video describes Romney as “rich beyond imagination” and claims that the former governor owns 15 homes, “although recent public reports indicate that Romney currently has three.”
The film was funded by Winning Our Future, a so-called super PAC that is backing Gingrich in the presidential race. Gingrich had promised to run a completely positive campaign and to denounce any negative and counterfactual ads by the super PAC, but he changed his tune after he was bombarded by negative ads by a pro-Romney super PAC and suffered a difficult loss in Iowa. Gingrich said in Dover, N.H., on Tuesday that he would have to go negative in order to “draw a sharp and clear contrast” with the former Massachusetts governor, “who is determined to be negative.”
Gingrich told Fox and Friends on Tuesday, however, that although he had not seen the film, he hopes it was factual. “I wouldn’t like to see something be put up to attack any of the candidates that isn’t factually correct,” he said.
A two-minute preview of the ad, which was produced by Jason Meath, a former Republican National Committee aide, was released earlier this week.
Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for the Romney campaign, responded to the preview in an e-mail on Monday, saying, “It’s puzzling to see Speaker Gingrich and his supporters continue their attacks on free enterprise. This is the type of criticism we’ve come to expect from President Obama and his left-wing allies at Moveon.org.”
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