Chris Wallace might have given Reince Priebus a hard time about Republicans being the party that looks out for the rich, but he quickly made up for it by attacking President Obama and carrying some water for Mitt Romney with the GOP's favorite whipping boy of the day, the failed solar company, Solyndra. Wallace did his best to hammer home one of the Republicans favorite talking points, that President Obama was somehow the "CEO" of General Motors or of Solyndra due to the government investment in both of them and therefore personally responsible for any layoffs at either company.
As DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz rightfully pointed out it is comparing apples to oranges:
WALLACE: Let me ask you about that. Is the president responsible for laying off the people at Solyndra?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: No, because the president wasn't the CEO of Solyndra.
WALLACE: Well, Romney wasn't the CEO of these companies, either. The president was --
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: No, Romney --
WALLACE: Excuse me. The president was not a venture capitalist. He put taxpayer money into Solyndra and a thousand people lost their jobs.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: OK.
WALLACE: So is the president responsible for the thousand people who lost their jobs at Solyndra?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Not even close. But Mitt Romney is responsible for being CEO of companies that he took over. That --
WALLACE: No, he wasn't the CEO.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: He was the CEO of Bain. Bain bought these companies, took them over --
WALLACE: Well, the president is the CEO of the country.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: But he's not the CEO of Solyndra.
And it went on and on like that with Wallace continuing to conflate Romney personally profiting from taking businesses over to the government investing in solar companies. And naturally Reince Priebus got the last word and chimed in with more of his usual attacks blaming President Obama for our economic woes while his party is busy actively sabotaging the economy on purpose.
Full transcript below the fold.
WALLACE: Congresswoman, Republicans are just beginning to pick your nominee -- their nominee, rather, your party is putting out ad after ad targeting Mitt Romney. And, in fact, during the debate last night, the DNC sent out several e-mails going after Romney but no one else.
Why all of the focus by your party on Mitt Romney?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Mitt Romney has earned that scrutiny. He had spent his entire campaign relentless attacking President Obama, distorting his record, decategorizing his record.
WALLACE: Forget about distorting. That fact is all of the Republicans are going after Obama. But you guys are going after Mitt Romney.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, Mitt Romney is one of the candidates who was near the top, or at the top of their field. And so, he invites and deserves that scrutiny because he has been distorting and mischaracterizing the president's record.
And you know what? Other presidential candidate has taken that lying down and we're not going to. The fact is that this president has a remarkable record of beginning to getting the economy turned around, of fighting for the middle class and working families. Hold on one second.
WALLACE: No, no, I am trying to be fair.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: OK. Well --
WALLACE: No, I am trying to be fair. I understand --
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Why the scrutiny, because Mitt Romney has no convictions. He's someone who has flip flopped on every major issue and voters need to know.
WALLACE: Let me ask you a question. You go after -- let me ask you -- you go after Romney for laying off people at Bain Capital, correct?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, for a lot of things, related to his role at Bain Capital.
WALLACE: But that's one of them.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: For that. For outsourcing jobs --
WALLACE: Let me ask you about that. Is the president responsible for laying off the people at Solyndra?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: No, because the president wasn't the CEO of Solyndra.
WALLACE: Well, Romney wasn't the CEO of these companies, either. The president was --
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: No, Romney --
WALLACE: Excuse me. The president was not a venture capitalist. He put taxpayer money into Solyndra and a thousand people lost their jobs.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: OK.
WALLACE: So is the president responsible for the thousand people who lost their jobs at Solyndra?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Not even close. But Mitt Romney is responsible for being CEO of companies that he took over. That --
WALLACE: No, he wasn't the CEO.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: He was the CEO of Bain. Bain bought these companies, took them over --
WALLACE: Well, the president is the CEO of the country.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: But he's not the CEO of Solyndra.
WALLACE: And Mitt Romney wasn't the CEO of AMPAD or these other companies.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: But Bain Capital owned those companies. He made the decision --
WALLACE: So, you are saying the president had no responsible for what happened in Solyndra?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: What I'm saying is that Mitt Romney, as the CEO --
WALLACE: I'm asking you about the president.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: No. Mitt -- no, the president --
WALLACE: Has no responsibility for Solyndra?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: The president has responsibility for the green jobs programs where he made investments.
WALLACE: And how about the company Solyndra that went bankrupt?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: But the decisions that were made at Solyndra that ultimately led to their bankruptcy were those of the people who worked at Solyndra. Mitt Romney -- Chris, let me answer you a question, please.
WALLACE: Well, I think you did answer the question.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Mitt Romney, it's total apples and oranges comparison.
WALLACE: But you made the point. You think that one is he is the CEO of Bain and the other one you say yes. And I just would like to give -- we got a minute left.
Chairman Priebus, your response for that, sir.
PRIEBUS: Well, you know, I learned in law when the other side is losing the argument, sometimes you quit talking and you let them continue.
But I mean, the reality is the president is the CEO, the first rots that they had, millions of Americans don't feel better off today than they were three or four years ago.
Look, you know, if the Democrats think that Mitt Romney is so weak, it's curious as to why they keep attacking them. I'll leave that up to the candidates.
But the fact of the matter is, this isn't about Republicans and Democrats. I think we should kind of put that on hold and start talking about America. And our country is on the brink of an economic disaster that is very predictable and we have a president --
WALLACE: Sir, you got 10 seconds.
(CROSSTALK)
PRIEBUS: And we are going to hold his presidency accountable to the words and promises that he made himself and he has failed this country.
WALLACE: We're going to have to leave it there. Chairman Priebus, Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz, I know you both would like to talk more about this. And you know what? We're going to have them 10 or 11 months to do so. So, we welcome you both back then and we'll see how the battle lines lay out as we head to the general election this fall. Thank you both.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Thank you.
