House Speaker John Boehner leapt to Mitt Romney’s defense at a press conference Wednesday, saying the Obama campaign's calls for Romney to release additional tax returns are a "sideshow."
An animated Boehner jumped to the podium to respond after Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was asked if Romney should allow greater public scrutiny of his finances.
“Listen, listen, Americans are asking, where are the jobs? They’re not asking where in the hell the tax returns are,” Boehner said.
“This is another sideshow intended to draw the American people’s attention away from the real issue, and the real issue is that the president’s economic policies have failed. They’ve actually made things worse. And as a result, he can’t run on his record. He’s got to run on something else. And so, whether it’s the tax returns, whether it’s Bain Capital, you’ll see every distraction known to man because the president can’t run on his record.”
Boehner's response to the tax return question was among the most emphatic any senior Republican has offered to shield Romney from a growing political vulnerability.
Democrats have loudly clamored for more disclosure from the former Massachusetts governor, after a report last week detailed his offshore holdings. Some Republicans have also begun to urge Romney to release more of his returns to get the issue behind him.
Romney has released his 2010 tax returns and 2011 estimate and dismissed calls to release additional records.
For more on Boehner's remarks, click here.
