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Romney Mocks Pro-Obama 'Infomercial" And Its Celebrated Filmmaker

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at the Mississippi Farmers Market in Jackson, Miss., on Friday. He had more than a couple of negative things to say about President Obama.
Rogelio Solis
/
AP

Campaigning in Mississippi on Friday, Mitt Romney took a pre-emptive swipe at a new 17-minute video about President Obama to be distributed next week by Obama's re-election campaign.

"The Road We've Traveled" was created by filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, who won an Academy Award for the 2006 Al Gore climate-change documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.

The Obama campaign released a Tom Hanks-narrated two-minute teaser on Thursday.

Later, on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, the host asked Guggenheim what negatives about Obama made their way into the documentary-style video. Guggenheim couldn't name any, but cited as a negative " too many accomplishments" by the president to squeeze into a 17-minute production.

"Oh come off it," Morgan shot back. "You can't say that with a straight face."

Speaking Friday in Jackson, Miss., Romney belittled what he called the "infomercial" and Guggenheim's inability to find anything bad to say about the president's first three years in office.

"I'll tell you, I've got a long list of people for that producer to talk to," Romney said, as NPR's Ari Shapiro reports. "If someone's looking for things that the president's done wrong, it's a long, long, long list."

Romney wasn't alone in mocking the filmmaker. During Thursday's interview, Guggenheim told CNN's Morgan he "took a pay cut" to make the movie.

"I'm surprised you weren't paying [Obama], by the sound of it," responded Morgan. "For the sheer honor and joy."

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Greg Henderson
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