Debate XXIV: Lie-bag Comix

Riddle me this, Speaker Gingrich. You have agreed with the characterization that Gov. Romney is a liar. Look at him now, do you stand by that claim?

Sure.

Wow. You just called the next president of the United States a liar.

Governor, I wish you would calmly and clearly state that it is your former staff running the PAC, it is your millionaire friends giving to the PAC, and you know that some of the ads are untrue. Just say that straightforward. And wipe that silly grin off that smug face of yours.

I can't help it, Newt. It's just that I'm amused by pompous gasbags. Of course it’s former people of mine, but keep in mind that I own a lot of people. Of course it’s people who support me. They wouldn’t be putting money into a PAC that supports me if they weren’t people who support me, now would they? Surely a man of your enormous intellect can grasp that.

You're doing it again, Romney! Don't try to befuddle the audience with your infernal saturnalian obfuscation, you impenitent reprobate.

Fancy words, Professor Gingrich, but let me just say that as regards their ads, I haven’t seen 'em.

You unrepentant  lie-bag! Gregory! He's doing it again!

It is not the responsibility of the moderator to pass judgment. Governor Romney, you have thirty seconds to respond.

I think the former Speaker is a little over the top, but let me tell you this, the ad I saw said you were forced out of the speakership. That was correct. It said that you sat down with Nancy Pelosi and argued for a climate change bill. That was correct. It said that you called Paul Ryan’s plan to provide Medicare reform a right wing social engineering plan. It said that as part of an ethics investigation, that you had to reimburse some $300,000 dollars, and it said that….

Gregory! Romney is way past thirty seconds!

Noted. And I also noted that he started by saying 'the ad I saw', a fact that I'm surprised you missed.

What? Oh... He sure did, didn't he? I would say that effectively proves my premise that Mitt Romney is an unabashed lie-bag.

There does seem to be a certain inconsistency between his statements. Let's ask the rest of the candidates - Governor Perry, do you believe that Governor Romney is an unabashed lie-bag?

Well, my mama always used to say that if it walks like a duck, and it talks like a duck, there's a real good chance that it is a... uh... you know...

A duck. Congressman Paul?

Mitt Romney is just another establishment Republican afraid of meaningful change. Does that answer your question?

Not really. Governor Huntsman, where do you come down on the issue of Governor Romney's relationship with the truth?

David, the country is in real pain right now, and there are a lot of issues that...

You worked for Barack Obama, Huntsman, so I'd say that your opinion is meaningless.

At NBC, we strive to respect the opinions of all the candidates. Senator Santorum, do you believe that Governor Romney is in fact an unabashed lie-bag?

I never did before today... You know, I can't say that I know what's in the Mormon Bible, but in the holy scriptures the ninth commandment is 'Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor'. So if...

Spare me your sanctimonious sentiments, Santorum. Anything wrong, I'm opposed to, but you know, this ain't beanbag.

And this ain't the summer of love. We're heading into another break right now, and when we return, we'll turn to the topic of job creation.

That's excellent, David, because while I was the governor of Massachusetts, I created more jobs than Barack Obama has created in the entire country.