Mitt Romney: Gingrich's Freddie Mac Ties Will Be His Downfall In Florida

NAPLES, Fla. -- Mitt Romney mocked Newt Gingrich for his appearances on the Sunday news shows earlier in the day, saying the former House speaker is unable to accept that his involvement in Freddie Mac makes him untenable to many Floridians.

"Mr. Speaker, your trouble in Florida is not because the audience is too quiet or too loud, or because you have opponents that are tough, your problem in Florida is that you worked for Freddie Mac at a time that Freddie Mac was not doing the right thing for the American people," he said. "You were selling influence in Washington at a time when we needed people to stand up for the truth in Washington."

Romney has attacked Gingrich before for his complaints about the presidential debates last week, which many believed were a win for the former Massachusetts governor, if only because Gingrich did relatively poorly.

On Sunday, though, as his campaign grows in confidence ahead of the Jan. 31 primary, Romney never said that he likes and respects Gingrich, usually a part of his stump speech before he launches into attacking his fellow candidate. Instead, Romney doubled down on Gingrich, adding to his speech a two-minute -- relatively long, given the length of the total speech -- criticism of Gingrich's consulting work for the government-sponsored organization Freddie Mac, which contributed to the housing crisis.

Florida has been hit hard by the housing crisis, and although the speech was given in the relatively wealthy Naples, Fla., the audience cheered loudly when Romney said Gingrich was tied to foreclosures and plummeting housing prices. Standing on a plaza off a street lined with designer stores and a Starbucks, Romney said the foreclosure crisis would be the story of the election.

Gingrich attempted to pre-emptively justify a loss in Florida, a winner-take-all state for delegates, during appearances on the Sunday morning news shows. Romney said Gingrich went "from station to station" on Sunday morning to make excuses for his growing weakness in the polls.

"I think for each of us, if we fail somewhere, if we fail the debate or we fail to get the support of people, it's time to look in the mirror," he said. "Speaker Gingrich has been having a hard time in Florida because the people of Florida have watched the debates and listened to the speaker and listened to the other candidates and they have said Mitt Romney is the guy we're going to vote for."

 

 

Comments

[flossophy]

10:00 AM on 01/30/2012

Aside from the fact that what he is saying about Newt's record is not true. 

... Mitt is a Iousy campaigner. 

He's like a bad stand-up comed!an act who comes across as fa.ke. 

Obama is a much more skiIIed campaigner who can articulate a compeIIing message to people. He would run rings around Romney.

[ennis438]

09:10 AM on 01/30/2012

Romney is hardly the person to lecture Gingrich on corruption. Although what Gingrich may or may not have done and Freddie Mac may have been crooked, just look at the various activities Romney has gotten into in the last few decades. From taking over companies and firing their employees, to this bank account issue overseas, to Romney attacking Obama on health care when he did almost the exact same thing while governor of Massachusetts, and all the flip flopping on just about every issue there is, Romney has a lot of explaining to do. Perhaps , so does Gingrich, but Romney is not the one to lecture anyone else on ethics.

[Elbrando]

09:05 AM on 01/30/2012

It might cost Gingrich the nomination and Romney the office. Since Romney invested in Freddie Mac both in a blind trust AND more directly his words may come back to haunt him.

[James v Morris]

11:31 PM on 01/29/2012

Romney says Gingrich blah blah ...Gingrich says Romney blah blah...Romney says Gingrich blah blah...Gingrich says Romney blah blah...Romney....

They are both hypocrites and thieves, whose main concern is their own welfare and that of the very rich. Neither of them care about the middle class. God help us if either is actually elected.

[stopnlisten]

09:52 PM on 01/29/2012

Freddie Mac vs. Bain. This is gonna get good!

[Elbrando]

09:03 AM on 01/30/2012

Actually Romney invested in Freddie Mac both in a blind trust AND more directly.

[Dr Danno]

09:22 PM on 01/29/2012

Gingrich did poorly, so therefore Mr Romoney wins. Can it be that the GOP candidate will be one who previously ran to the left of Ted Kennedy? Sort of hits the lib/cons curve out of the ballpark,no? So,the President is actually the more conservative candidate.....wow!

[john rajah]

08:26 PM on 01/29/2012

"Corporations Are People" vs "Child Labor Laws Are Truly Stupid"

Which should a Christian(or Jew,or Muslim,or Hindu,or Buddhist,or Atheist,or Agnostic)choose?

[Bytor85326]

07:53 PM on 01/29/2012

The real story is how much money Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have contributed to Obama.

[john rajah]

08:18 PM on 01/29/2012

was Obama paid $1.6million for his knowledge of "history"?

[prudencehall]

08:42 PM on 01/29/2012

President Obama was not employed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.

[stopnlisten]

09:52 PM on 01/29/2012

That's it GOP...keep your eye on the ball as usual.

[Gin1234]

07:45 PM on 01/29/2012

Mittis about a 3 trick pony. He has just a few points he sticks with all the time. He is going to have to get a little more creative for the fall. Freddie Mac was sooo last debate. Time for a brand new subject to attack Grinchgrich on.

[Joshy X]

07:08 PM on 01/29/2012

According to The Washington Post, blacks hold 44 percent of the jobs at Fannie Mae and 50 percent of the jobs at Freddie Mac.

[john rajah]

08:18 PM on 01/29/2012

relevance?

[prudencehall]

08:38 PM on 01/29/2012

???

[99er2049er]

06:41 PM on 01/29/2012

I would love to see Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae crash.

[Paperless Tiger]

10:35 PM on 01/29/2012

They are just housing programs. The failure occurred in the labor market sector, which is to say wages, which were forced down through Bush's anti- union labor board and his over and under the counter immigration ploys. The defaults were due to job loss and wage loss.

[propofemandsyd]

06:24 PM on 01/29/2012

Mitt has tried to "explain" that his taxes are so low on his investments earnings using the "already-taxed-once" argument, which is legal.

So then, why do people have to pay taxes on unemployment funds, since this money was essentially previously taxed.

[propofemandsyd]

06:16 PM on 01/29/2012

Oh.

I thought the title of the article was, "Romney goes after Gingrich's french fries."

And I just got new glasses. Should I complain?

[prudencehall]

08:43 PM on 01/29/2012

LOL! Seriously, I'm still giggling!

[The ORF in Largo]

05:54 PM on 01/29/2012

Love it with these GOP candidates ripping each others money grabbing scams while trying to take
the moral high ground. Neither of these men have the character, morals or ethics to be entrusted
with the welfare of the nation and it;s citizens. They are their number one priority followed by Party
and then somewhere done the country. Country might be a bigger problem for Mitt seeing as he
chooses to offshore his wealth rather than invest in America

[CAPiITAIN]

05:43 PM on 01/29/2012

I can not argue with Mitt, I can not argue with Newt, Paul or Rick. They are all scum.