President Obama created a “new kind of gaffe” recently when he told the truth on purpose, Jon Stewart said on Wednesday. Referring to large-scale infrastructure projects like roads and bridges, Obama recycled a line he has used often on the stump but with a slight variation: “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”
You’d have to be a real “shyster” to take that out of context, Stewart said. “I wonder which way the conservative pundits went with it.”
The line has become a full-fledged talking point of the Romney campaign, appearing in ads and fundraising pleas.
We all love gaffes, Stewart said. But this goes beyond the typical fun of a single news cycle. “This ain’t a gaffe, and Romney’s not having a little fun with it,” Stewart said. “This deliberate misstating and misrepresentation of Obama’s position is now the centerpiece of Romney’s entire campaign.”
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David Taintor
David Taintor is TPM’s News Editor. He contributes to TPM’s Livewire coverage, among other areas. David is from Chanhassen, Minnesota, where, yes, it gets very cold. Reach him at taintor [at] talkingpointsmemo.com
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