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Harry Reid tried to ruin Mitt Romney in 2012 simply because no one else would
Nevada Democratic Sen. Harry Reid speaks on the floor of the U.S. Senate. (Image source: YouTube)

Harry Reid tried to ruin Mitt Romney in 2012 simply because no one else would

TheBlaze reported on a New York Magazine piece yesterday in which former Nevada Democratic Sen. Harry Reid talked about the current crop of Democrats as an "old folks' home."

Also contained in that same piece is another interesting tidbit about Reid and his prevarication about 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, specifically that Romney did not pay his taxes. Reid says he did it simply because no one else would.

Back in 2012, Reid stood on the floor of the Senate and leveled the charge against Romney:

It was proved later his allegation was untrue.

From the Washington Post in 2014:

The problem with Reid's allegation? It's just not true. We know that, at least in 2011 and 2010, Romney did pay taxes. How do we know that? Because Romney released his tax returns for those years. In 2011, Romney paid $1.9 million in taxes; in 2010, he paid slightly more than $3 million in taxes.

Our own Fact Checker gave Reid Four Pinocchios for his "no taxes" claim. PolitiFact gave the claim a "Pants on Fire" rating.

Now, Reid tries, in his way, to explain himself in the New York Magazine article, fittingly titled, "Who Will Do What Harry Reid Did Now That Harry Reid Is Gone?":

“As my staff will tell you,” Reid said to me when we spoke the next day, “I’ve done a number of things because no one else will do it. I’ve done stuff no one else will do.” I expected him to give an ­example of a successful parliamentary maneuver or perhaps a brave political endorsement, but instead he mentioned one of the most disreputable episodes of his long career, when, during the 2012 presidential campaign, he falsely accused Mitt Romney of not having paid his taxes. (Even though the facts were wrong, the accusation spurred Romney to release his tax returns, which showed he had only paid 14.1 percent.) “I tried to get everybody to do that. I didn’t want to do that,” Reid said. “I didn’t have anything against him personally. He’s a fellow Mormon, nice guy. I went to everybody. But no one would do it. So I did it.”

Reid apparently sees political expediency as excuse enough to ruin the reputation and political career of someone he acknowledges is a nice guy.

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