Politics

Paul defends Romney against ‘struggling’ Gingrich [AUDIO]

Jeff Poor Media Reporter
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On Laura Ingraham’s radio show Tuesday, Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney had an unlikely defender: fellow candidate Ron Paul.

Ingraham asked the Texas congressman what he thought of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s crusade against Romney for his role at Bain Capital, which Gingrich has decried as a flaw in Romney’s candidacy.

“I think it’s a big distraction,” Paul said. “And they’re picking up on this and those who are condemning him for it I think are arguing like Democrats. You know they come in and say, look restructuring in the free market is a good idea, and I don’t know anything about Bain so I’m not taking a position on that and I haven’t looked at it and I have no idea what he did or didn’t do, but the principle of restructuring is a good thing in the marketplace.”

Paul also contrasted Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital with Gingrich’s history of benefiting financially from the practices of government-sponsored enterprise Freddie Mac.

“For conservatives to come forward and say restructuring is bad, I think there is a big difference if you are restructuring in the free market and you are doing a positive thing versus somebody who may have taken money from Freddie Mac,” Paul said.

The Texas Republican said Gingrich’s efforts didn’t surprise him, but he hopes people will see through his accusations.

“You know he’s sort of struggling and he’s looking for something, but I don’t think it is going to sell because I am hoping people understand the marketplace a little better than that,” Paul added.

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