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Mitt Romney’s running mate officially accepted the party’s nomination in a more than half
hour long speech Wednesday — but it was something he said early in the speech that
perked up fact-checkers’ ears.
RYAN: “Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said, 'I believe that if our government
is there to support you … this plant will be here for another hundred years.' That’s
what he said in 2008. … Well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year,"
Ryan continued. "It is locked up and empty to this day. And that’s how it is in so
many towns today, where the recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight.”
He was referring to a GM plant in Janesville, Wisconsin that closed in 2008 — before President
Obama even took office.
Politifact rated the comment False, noting the plant closed while President Bush was
still in office.
He never said President Obama was responsible for the plant closing, but in referencing
a February 2008 campaign speech then-candidate Obama made at the Janesville plant saying
he hoped the plant would quote “be here for another hundred years” — he was making
a fuzzy implication.
And per the Detroit News, Ryan’s made the reference before — in fact earlier this
month.
Here’s what then-candidate Obama said in that campaign speech:
“I believe if our government is there to support you, and give you the assistance you
need to re-tool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another hundred
years.”