Biden Highlights Jobs Report, Criticizes GOP over Auto Industry
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Scott Olson/Getty Images(BELOIT, Wis.) – Speaking less than half an hour away from Rep. Paul Ryan’s hometown of Janesville, Vice President Joe Biden lauded Friday’s jobs report and highlighted that the GOP vice presidential nominee won’t acknowledge the Obama administration’s role in saving the auto industry.
“We’ve made real progress. We’ve created 5.4 million new private sector jobs. Look and today, today we learned that companies in America hired more workers in October than any time in the last eight months. Housing starts, housing starts at the highest level since July of ‘08. Exports are up 41 percent, 500,000 new manufacturing jobs since 2010. Three million more working class families’ children in college today because of Pell grants,” Biden said.
“I know the guy next door doesn’t recognize it, but we actually did rescue the automobile industry and saved a million jobs, a million jobs saved and 200,000 new jobs continuing to expand,” he added.
Democrats have hammered away at Mitt Romney over the past week for a misleading ad suggesting the president allowed Jeep to move jobs to China, and the vice president suggested Friday that the Italian government, along with two major U.S. automobile industries have scolded Romney for airing the untruthful spot.
“Even the Italian government took issue with this. No, I’m serious. They were offended. Like, what’s he have against Italians?” Biden said.
But while GM and Chrysler have rebuked the GOP nominee for the ad, the Italian government has not issued a statement criticizing Romney as the vice president said.
Biden drew on his normal critiques of Romney on foreign policy, women’s issues and offering tax breaks to the wealthy, but he slipped up when citing just how much the GOP nominee made last year, a mix-up the vice president attributed to his “middle class roots.”
“Remember when he was asked on 60 minutes, he was asked do you think it’s fair that you make $20,000 last year” Biden said before people in the crowd shouted “million! 20 Million!”
The vice president then made the sign of the cross and said, “I guess my middle class roots are showing. 20 million it’s hard to even think about that. The town I lived in didn’t make 20 million.”
Biden is on his last trip to Wisconsin this election cycle, a state he’s visited consistently since Ryan was selected as Romney’s running mate. The vice president told the Wisconsin crowd that he spoke with the president last night, and a man in the crowd shouted out a message for the president.
“Tell him we love him!” one man shouted.
“I love him too. I love him too,” Biden said. “I tell you what, there’s never been a day in the last four years I haven’t been proud to be his vice president, not one single day.”
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio