2012

Romney Goes Negative on Newt

Attacks over Fannie Mae; deploys wife on trail.

Mitt Romney took a series of shots at Newt Gingrich Monday, starting with a television interview in which he called on Newt to return the $1.6 million he received from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Newt fired back, saying he’d return the money “if Governor Romney would like to give back all the money he’s earned bankrupting companies and laying off employees over his years [at Bain Capital].” Romney didn’t take up Newt’s offer, instead arguing there is “a big difference between working in the private economy and working on K Street and working as a lobbyist or working as a legislator or working to connect businesses with government.” In another sign of Romney’s nervousness, he has deployed his wife, Ann, to the campaign trail, where she has been saying things like “He is steadfast … He won’t abandon you in the hardest times”—a line she insists is not meant as a comparison to Newt’s three marriages.