Romney Says Big Business ‘Doing Fine’ After Criticizing Obama for Similar Remarks
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William Thomas Cain/Bill Pugliano/Getty Image(HOPKINS, Minn.) — Mitt Romney Thursday night said that big businesses are “doing fine,” using similar language that the presumptive nominee has hammered President Obama for using to describe the private sector earlier this year.
“I’m going to champion small business. We’ve got to make it easier for small businesses. Big business is doing fine in many places — they get the loans they need, they can deal with all the regulation,” said Romney, speaking to a group of supporters at a private fundraiser in Minnesota Thursday evening.
Romney then added that the reason that big businesses are “doing fine in many places” is because they are able to invest their money in “tax havens.”
“They know how to find ways to get through the tax code, save money by putting various things in the places where there are low tax havens around the world for their businesses,” said Romney. “But small business is getting crushed.”
While Romney often talks about the negative impact regulations have on small businesses during his campaign speeches, his remarks Thursday night sounded similar to those made by Obama in June in which he said the private sector was “doing fine.”
Romney has since used the president’s words as a frequent example on the campaign trail of Obama being out of touch with struggling Americans.
At a campaign rally in Michigan just days following Obama’s remarks Romney said that the president, “trying to explain that everything’s going swimmingly,” remarked that “the private sector is doing fine.”
Eliciting boos from the crowd, Romney added, “Yeah, I don’t hear that where I go across the country, with the 23 million people out of work or underemployed.”
Additionally, while Romney said tax havens were helping businesses succeed during his remarks Thursday, the candidate’s own personal finances have come under scrutiny after it was revealed that some of his investments were placed in offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio