The Demoratic National Committee (DNC) is hitting Mitt Romney on his
leadership of the 2002 Winter Olympics with a new Web video
released Friday, a day ahead of Romney's Olympic legacy reunion in
Utah.
The Web video accuses Romney of running the "most expensive Games in
U.S. history." The ad also uses old footage of Sen. John McCain
(R-Ariz.) criticizing the 2002 Olympics as an "incredible pork-barrel
project" and a "rip-off of the taxpayers."
Romney has often used his leadership of the Olympic Committee as an
example of his private-sector experience. The DNC ad slams him for
leading a committee subsidized by the federal government.
"In addition to exaggerating his impact on the Games, Mitt Romney also
fails to acknowledge the $1.3 billion federal bailout — the largest
for any Olympics then — that he secured and bragged about at the
time, while railing against similar federal spending on the campaign
trail today," DNC national press secretary Melanie N. Roussell wrote
in an email.
"And while Mitt argues he saved the Games," the ad reads over
Olympic stock footage, "the real savior of the Salt Lake City
Olympics? The American taxpayer."
