Mitt Romney called Democratic criticism over his record at Bain Capital "misguided" and chided President Barack Obama for approving the attacks while at the same time raising cash from other members of the private equity industry.
In an interview with Hot Air's Ed Morrissey, the presumptive Republican nominee denounced an ad launched this week by the Obama campaign that suggested Romney played a role in the closing of a Missouri steel mill, calling the spot "really off target" and a "distraction."
"They said, 'Oh gosh, Gov. Romney at Bain Capital closed down a steel factory,'" Romney told Morrissey. "Their problem, of course, is that the steel factory closed down two years after I left Bain Capital. I was no longer there, so that's hardly something that should be on my watch."
Romney accused the Obama campaign of ignoring the fact that he created jobs while at Bain and of overlooking jobs lost during Obama's time at the White House, adding that the president is "hardly one to point a finger." The interview marked the first time Romney has commented on the ad, which briefly ran in several swing states earlier this week.
