McDonnell defends Romney, criticizes Obama and Biden on “Meet the Press”
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Appearing this morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Gov. Bob McDonnell defended Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for refusing to disclose more of his tax returns, and he again criticized Vice President Joe Biden for a controversial remark in a stump speech last week in Danville.
McDonnell, he chairman of the Republican Governors Association, debated Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, on the tone and substance of the increasingly hostile presidential campaign. Host David Gregory had the two governors respond to a clip of Biden’s Danville speech, in which the vice president said Romney wants to “unchain Wall Street” and added: “They’re going to put y’all back in chains.”
O’Malley called Biden’s remark “an indelicate play on the Republican words of shackling the economy with regulations and shackling small businesses, and so it was– it was certainly an– an indelicate choice of words.”
But, O’Malley added, “There’s not a racist bone in Joe Biden’s body.”
McDonnell was not as charitable, calling Biden’s comment “way over the top” and part of a pattern of negativity from the Democratic ticket.
“Honest debates about issues, I would say, whether it’s welfare reform or other things that are based on policy, that’s fair game,” McDonnell said. “We can disagree on that respectfully. But these character attacks about the other side are just horrific.”
O’Malley argued that the Romney campaign doesn’t have clean hands when it comes to attack politics.
“Governor Romney’s the sort of guy, David, that you’d never want to play pickup basketball with,” O’Malley said. ” He’s always fouling and he’s always crying foul”
O’Malley blasted Romney for accusing President Barack Obama of trying to scrap the work requirement under the federal welfare-to-work program, which O’Malley called a “racially imbued issue.”
When Gregory asked McDonnell whether Romney should disclose more information about his federal income taxes, McDonnell said: “This issue is not about Mitt Romney’s tax returns. That’s not what Americans care about. They care about their own tax returns and the whopping increases in taxes and regulation that this administration has put on the American people and what they’re going to put on. Here’s what we know about those tax returns: He’s paid his taxes. He’s released more documents than he needs to. He’s made a lot of money. He’s been successful and he’s a very generous guy. Now I’d say let’s talk about what the American people are going to vote on and that’s jobs, debt, spending, energy, and the American dream.”
Asked if he thought Romney was lying about his taxes, O’Malley said: “I don’t know. It’s hard to imagine that he would continue to hide and– and make the big secret of the campaign whether or not he paid taxes. The only thing we know for sure is one year of returns. We know that he had Swiss bank accounts, Cayman Island accounts and we know under Paul Ryan’s plan he’d actually pay not 13 percent, but he’d pay less than one percent. So I don’t know why Governor Romney won’t come out with his tax returns. Certainly when he was reviewing the tax returns of vice presidential hopefuls like Governor McDonnell or indeed Paul Ryan he asked for more than one year of tax returns.”
– Michael Sluss
August 19, 2012 - 7:44 PM
More importantly, does McDonnell agree or disagree with Todd Akin’s statement on rape?
Probably, Dolly. I am sure that he and other Republicans disagree with this stance too:
http://washingtonexaminer.com/abortionist-sees-aborting-ugly-black-babies-as-a-service-to-the-taxpayers-apparently/article/2504231
Really Dolly….I’d love to hear the official GOP plank in their platform defining what “legitimate rape” is. Talk about a millstone around the Republican neck…I really think it’s going to be incumbent on all of them to speak up on whether they agree or not.
Akins is the dominant GOP story now…doesn’t take much to steal the spotlight from Rmoney/Ryan.
#2 Hmm, so McDonnell probably agrees or disagrees? I’m going to have to agree with you on this one, MMM. He probably does agree or disagree.
And it’s a rock-solid bet that a MASSIVE percentage of Dems disagree with what’s expressed in your link.
Exactly Dolly. He agrees and disagreesd which is exactly the position Rmoney takes on virtually every topic depending on eho todsy’s audience is.
Wouldnt a rape victim immediately have a D andC,,is that what they call it. Or a morning after pill. Would they really wait months? I doubt it. This is really a non issue.
#6 And what exactly do you know about being a rape victim, Jack?
From what I understand,”legitimate rape” is not a new term. In terms of what the laws define rape as, there is a gray area. For example, if a young couple are engaging in consensual sex, and they are both under 18, if she were to become pregnant and he turns 18, then he can be charged with statutory rape, regardless of the circumstances.
“disagreesd which is exactly the position Rmoney takes on virtually every topic depending on eho todsy’s” Comment by dave — August 20, 2012 @ 11:35 am
I agree that Romney doesn’t drink as much at 11:35am…
BTW, the abortionist in the video is a longtime democrat and democratic supporter obviously.
Jack, a woman does not just decide to have a “D andC” and there are those who are also trying to outlaw the “morning after pill”. This is a problem for the TP/GOP as most women, even those who are pro-life and conservative, believe abortion should remain legal for women who are raped or victims of incest.
I heard a conservative grandmother on the radio yesterday speaking about her granddaughter being raped and how she would not vote for Obama but seriously questions being able to vote for Romney with that in the GOP Platform.
I also heard a truck driver tell a sad story of having to choose to abort because his family was so traumatized by his wife’s rape and the subsequent pregnancy that was a second blow.
This is not a decision any of us needs to be in on for any woman but most certainly not one who has been raped or is the victim of incest. The GOP has gone too far.
Prove “obviously”.
You cannot deny that Romney flip flops more than any pol in modern history.
belle, “legitimate rape” might not be a new term, but it’s not a legal term either. It’s also not the opposite of statutory rape.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-h-word/2012/aug/20/legitimate-rape-medieval-medical-concept
Like so much about the GOP, the concept of “legitimate rape” has it’s origins in medieval times.
Prove obviously?? Sure thing:
http://newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=NC&last=virmani
next…