Here Are 5 Times Dems and the Media Have Taken Romney Out of Context (Despite the DNC's Claim)

DNC Executive Director Patrick Gaspard on Wednesday discussed with MSNBC's Chuck Todd the president’s now-infamous “You Didn’t Build That” speech, the Romney campaign’s reaction to it, and Team Obama’s insistence that, like, the president never said that.

Gaspard and Team Obama believe the Romney campaign has been less-than-honest in presenting the president's speech and have repeatedly accused conservatives of "twisting" what Obama said that night in Roanoke, Virginia.

"Have you ever taken Romney’s words out of context?" Todd asked.

“No, Chuck,” Gaspard responded. “We take Governor Romney at his word and we try to represent those views when we lay out the differences that exist between the President and that candidate.”

Oh, really? You know what, Mr. Gaspard? You’ve just given us a great idea for another “top whatever” list.

Without any further introduction, here are the top 5 moments where the DNC and the liberal media has taken former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney out of context:

Andrea Mitchell's Wawa Edit:

Commenting on the difference between private and public sector efficiency, Mitt Romney during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania used Wawa convenience store touchscreen computers as an example.

He noted that you can go into any Wawa, click on a screen, get what you want when you want, and be out the door. Now compare that to the public sector where it can sometimes take months to get anything done.

Okay, so how was this misrepresented?

Andrea Mitchell and her staff at MSNBC edited out Romney's private vs. public sector comparison and focused only on the moments where he talked about Wawa computers. When they were done “touching up” Romney’s speech, it was less about efficiency and more about “Gee whiz! Look at that! A computer screen!”

Here’s how Romney’s speech appeared on MSNBC:

But here is what he actually said:

Of course, after they got caught, MSNBC didn't offer an apology.

I like being able to fire people

The DNC and the media went red in the face over these seven words.

“See? He is a corporate raider! He likes firing people!”

Of course, contrary to the media narrative, there was much more substance to what Romney actually said:

“I want individuals to have their own insurance. That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. It also means that if you don’t like what they do, you could fire them,” Romney said.

“I like being able to fire people who provide services to me. You know, if someone isn’t giving the good service, I want to say, I’m going to go get someone else to provide this service to [emphasis added],” he added.

Yeah, he wasn’t talking about firing employees. Nice try, though.

Romney 'Agrees' That We Depend on Gov't

After the Romney campaign jumped all over the “You Didn’t Build That” speech, Team Obama tried to fight back with an ad accusing Romney of twisting the president's words. The video even argues that Romney agrees with President Obama’s claim that individual success is totally dependent on government:

However, contrary to what the ad would have you believe, this is what Romney actually said [emphasis added]:

And, of course, he [Obama] describes people who we care very deeply about, who make a difference in our lives: our schoolteachers, firefighters, people who build roads. We need those things. We value schoolteachers, firefighters, people who build roads. You really couldn’t have a business if you didn’t have those things.

But, you know, we pay for those things. Alright? The taxpayers pay for government. It’s not like government just provides those to all of us and we say, “Oh, thank you government for doing those things.” No, in fact, we pay for them and we benefit from them and we appreciate the work that they do and the sacrifices that are done by people who work in government. But they did not build this business.

That’s a little different from simply agreeing with the idea that we wouldn’t have anything without government, wouldn’t you agree?

Romney Totally once said 'You didn’t build that'

After it became apparent President Obama’s “You Didn’t Build That” remark wasn't going over very well, the media desperately searched for something to turn attention back on Romney.

Enter MSNBC:

“Now, before you start ripping the comparison apart, give MSNBC credit. This is a creative parallel. However, it’s also a fatally flawed one,” writes The Blaze’s Mytheos Holt.

“Romney very clearly gives the Olympians credit for their own attributes in this clip -- something Obama actively disparages in the one floating around of him,” Holt adds.

He continues:

Moreover, even if you assume that both Obama and Romney have said peoples’ individual attributes take a back seat to the contributions of others and ignore what the quotes involved actually say about that, compare what the messages being sold here are. According to Obama, people achieve great things because of the government. According to Romney, people achieve great things because of their communities and families. It’s not a stretch to figure out which of those two messages is more likely to appeal to the majority of voters.

Needless to say, MSNBC’s Olympic discovery wasn't very successful. The fact that Todd and Gaspard are still talking about “You Didn’t Build That” proves this.

I'm not concerned about the very poor

Romney said this during an interview on CNN:

I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich. They’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90 to 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.

But never let what was actually said get in the way of a good partisan video:

So, is this what Gaspard mean when he said "We take Governor Romney at his word"?

(H/T: Mediaite)

All photos courtesy The Associated Press. This story has been updated.