Rachel Maddow Calls Romney's Jeep Ad A Lie

The Mitt Romney campaign is defending its controversial ad that misleads viewers into thinking that under President Barack Obama's watch, Chrysler is moving production of Jeeps to China. The ad, which has sparked a torrent of complaints and fact checking, was initially caught being aired in the Toledo, Ohio, television market, though the Romney campaign had not announced it publicly. The television tracking service TVEyes shows that it is now airing in Youngstown, Ohio, as well.

A Democratic ad buy source, speaking on condition of anonymity to reveal private data, said that the Romney campaign is spending $360,000 on television ads in Toledo between Oct. 27 and Nov. 1, 35 percent of which is being used to air the Jeep ad. It is spending $138,000 in Youngstown over the same time period, 50 percent of which is going to the Jeep ad.

The campaign is doing all of this without mounting a substantive defense of the ad's content. The spot states that Obama took the auto companies through bankruptcy, without acknowledging that that was Romney's plan as well. It says that the Detroit News endorsed Romney, without noting that the endorsement included a criticism of Romney's position on the auto bailout. It states that Romney has a "plan to help the auto industry," though as Politico's Ben White noted, the Romney campaign hasn't offered reporters any such plan. Finally, it cites a debunked report from Bloomberg to suggest that Chrysler will be returning Jeep production to China, without explaining that the company is doing so to cater to a growing Chinese market and isn't moving any U.S. jobs there to accommodate that demand.

"Obama took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China. Mitt Romney will fight for every American job," the ad says. And yet, the Romney campaign has refused to back off the ad. At first, aides refused to actually comment on it. By Monday, however, they were a bit more defiant about its content.

"What's in there that's false? Are they building Jeeps in China or not?" an aide asked BuzzFeed. "I think a lot of Ohioans are wondering why we can't make Jeeps here and ship them to China, just like they are wondering why we can't make — insert product here — in this country and export them to China."

This is a defense by technicality. The exact language of the ad may fall within the boundaries of truth, but the message it imparts is fanciful and misleading. The Huffington Post asked the Romney campaign for an explanation beyond the one it provided anonymously to BuzzFeed. The campaign did not respond.

"Romney, of course, is getting desperate," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina told a conference call of reporters. "So what did he do? He released an ad in Toledo that everyone in America knows is flat-out false. It reeks of desperation because that's what it is."

On a conference call a few hours later, Steve Rattner, who oversaw the auto bailout for Obama, added that he had personally been in touch with officials at Chrysler to get an honest sense of the story. The company, he said, was simply increasing production in China to meet a growing demand there. "It obviously makes sense to manufacture some or all of those cars closer to the customer rather than shipping them across the world," he said.

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[Qtoyghs]

It's not outsourcing if that job was never intended to be located in America. The jobs that will be in China are specifically for Chinese market, just as the jobs in America are specifically for the American market.

As such, American jobs are not being sacrificed.

[netster007z]

They are cars that used to be made in America that are now going to be made in China. That's the very definition of outsourcing.

[joel macmanus]

its not outsourcing!! they are chinese made cars for chinese customers

[netster007z]

PolitiFact declared Romney's true statement the lie of the year. Remember this, that these "fact-checkers" are nothing but far-left liars and frauds.

[netster007z]

So now you claim that outsourcing doesn't cost American jobs? During the election it was nothing but "Romney shipped jobs overseas"! Pick an f-ing lane!

[netster007z]

Currently, the Jeeps sold in China are manufactured in America. Now, the Jeeps sold in China are going to be manufactured in China.

So the point about American jobs making Jeeps moving to China is factual.

[tretrioeciii]

Remember how wrong every republican was on night election night?

That is how wrong they are on EVERYTHING.

These people can't process reality, so they just make up one story after another trying desperately to not see the truth.

The truth being, they simply have no idea what they are talking about.

[joel macmanus]

yes, but they will not be taking any american jobs

[Yeldarb1960]

Hey, Madcow, Jeep will be built in China starting in 2014. 

[HorrorVintage]

The "insinuation" of the ad? LOL - that is a stretch. The ad was spot on. Nothing in it was a lie at all. Everyone is now realizing that everything Romney said is coming true. Just wait until everyone is forced into paying for insurance. We'll have the largest -"what the heck did I vote for!?"- reaction you've ever seen.