Newt Gingrich (Alan Diaz/AP)Newt Gingrich called on the organization "Winning Our Future," a pro-Gingrich super PAC not affiliated with the campaign but managed by his own former staffers, to remove inaccurate portions of a film critical of Mitt Romney's business record.
The 28-minute film, titled "King of Bain," tells the stories of people who lost their jobs when their companies were taken over by Bain Capital, a private equity firm led by Romney during the 1980s and 1990s.
"This week, fact-check organizations like The Washington Post and Politifact have ranked advertisements produced by super PACs supporting Governor Romney and myself as containing enormous inaccuracies," Gingrich said in a written statement. "I am calling for the Winning Our Future super PAC supporting me to either edit its 'King of Bain' advertisement and movie to remove its inaccuracies, or to pull it off the air and off the internet entirely."
The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler's awarded the video "Four Pinocchios" in his assessment, which puts "King of Bain" in a class of the worst offenders with "significant factual error[s]."
Politifact, a Pulitzer-prize winning project of the St. Petersburg Times, said two claims in the film were "mostly false."
Read Gingrich's full statement:
Orlando, FL--Newt Gingrich released the following statement calling for truth and accuracy from campaigns and so-called "Super-PACs" supporting candidates.
"The American people have a right to know the facts about the records of the men and women who are asking them for their vote.
"Governor Romney is running as someone who knows how to create jobs. In fact, he has claimed to have created 100,000 jobs while at Bain Capital. However, numerous analyses have said that figure is as inaccurate as President Obama's claim to have "saved or created" millions of jobs.
"Furthermore, Governor Romney's experience as a portfolio manager did not help him create an environment in Massachusetts that was friendly to job creation. As Governor, Mitt Romney raised $700 million in taxes and fees, despite a campaign pledge not to, and Massachusetts ranked 4th worst in job creation under his leadership.
"These are just some of the facts which President Obama would use to undercut Governor Romney's claims to be a job creator if he is the Republican nominee. Given these facts, it is entirely appropriate for Republican Primary voters to ask questions to determine whether Governor Romney is presenting himself in an accurate light.
"This call for accuracy, however, is a two way street. Just as candidates must be certain to accurately present their own records, they also have a responsibility to describe the records of their fellow candidates accurately. And they have a responsibility to make sure that their supporters are doing the same.
"This week, fact check organizations like The Washington Post and Politifact have ranked advertisements produced by Super-PACs supporting Governor Romney and myself as containing enormous inaccuracies.
"I am calling for the Winning Our Future Super-PAC supporting me to either edit its "King of Bain" advertisement and movie to remove its inaccuracies, or to pull it off the air and off the internet entirely.
"Furthermore, I am once again calling on Governor Romney to issue a similar call for the Super-PAC supporting him to edit or remove its ads which have been shown to contain gross inaccuracies, something the Governor has thus far refused to do.
"The American people deserve a robust debate and full comparison of the plans and records of the people who are asking for their vote. They also deserve assurances that the information they are hearing is accurate. I am committed to holding my campaign and my supporters to this high standard of accuracy and I hope Governor Romney will do the same."
