PolitiFact Lie Of The Year: Mitt Romney's Jeeps In China Ad

PolitiFact has named Mitt Romney's claim that Jeep is moving its U.S. production to China as its "Lie Of The Year."

Romney made the false claim in a speech on the campaign trail and a television ad, despite Chrysler's assertion that it is maintaining its American operations and considering expanding production to China. His campaign sparked controversy when it aired the commercial in Ohio.

On Wednesday, PolitiFact declared the ad "brazenly false." The fact-checking organization outlined the origins of the claim and the backlash that ensued. "People often say that politicians don’t pay a price for deception, but this time was different," it wrote. "A flood of negative press coverage rained down on the Romney campaign, and he failed to turn the tide in Ohio, the most important state in the presidential election."

PolitiFact, of course, attracted its own share of controversy during the 2012 election — particularly for its review of politicians' statements in its "Truth-O-Meter." MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, for example, became one of the organization's most outspoken critics when she raged against the organization for its assessment of a claim by Marco Rubio as well as President Obama's State of the Union address.