Obama ad labels Romney Jeep commercial a 'lie'

By Keith Laing - 10/29/12 03:15 PM ET

President Obama is firing back at a commercial from Mitt Romney's campaign that says Chrysler will move production of its Jeep brand to China in a new ad released by his campaign Monday.

Team Obama did not release details about the ad, but it is expected to air in auto-heavy areas of Ohio such as Toledo, where Romney's ad was running over the weekend.

In the commercial, Obama's campaign accusing Romney's ad of containing a "lie" about the potential outsourcing of Jeep production, pointing to a statement from the auto company that it will not shift production of the Jeep from the U.S. to China.

"When the auto industry faced collapse, Mitt Romney turned his back. And now after Romney's false claim of Jeep outsourcing to China, Chrysler itself has refuted Romney's lie.

"The truth? Chrysler is adding jobs," the ad says before playing a clip of Romney saying "Let Detroit go bankrupt," which is the title of an op-ed he wrote for The New York Times in 2008.

"Mitt Romney on Ohio jobs: Wrong then, dishonest now," the Obama ad concludes.

The Romney ad points out that Chrysler is now owned by Italian automaker Fiat through a deal that was arranged by the Obama administration after the $80 billion auto bailout. The ad also repeats a disputed report that Fiat was planning to move production of the Jeep from the United States to China.

“Who will do more for the auto industry? Not Barack Obama,” a narrator says in Romney's commercial. “Obama took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China. Mitt Romney will fight for every American job.”

Democrats have criticized the ad from Romney, pointing to a statement from the auto company that it will not shift production of the Jeep from the U.S. to China.

Romney’s campaign dismissed the criticism in a statement provided to The Hill on Monday afternoon, saying the ad was factual.

“It appears the Obama campaign is less concerned with engaging in a meaningful conversation about the president’s failed policies and more concerned with arguing against facts about their record they dislike,” Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said in an email. “The American people will see their desperate arguments for what they are.”

Both campaigns are fighting hard to win in auto manufacturing-heavy Ohio, which has become ground zero in the presidential race.

The contention at issue is based on a Bloomberg News report last week that Italian automaker Fiat is considering producing Jeeps in China.

A company spokesman said in a statement last week that “it is a leap that would be difficult even for professional circus acrobats” to conclude that it is planning to build U.S. Jeeps outside the United States. Instead, Fiat says it would be building Jeeps in the U.S. and China.

Watch the Obama and Romney ads here: