Checking Romney’s claim on ‘you didn’t build that’

For more than nearly two weeks, the Romney and Obama campaign have been arguing about whether President Barack Obama insulted entrepreneurs.

The argument started with comments Obama made about the intersection of business and government during a July 17, 2012 campaign appearance. Romney, in comments at public events and in several ads, has argued that the remarks show a general disdain for business.

The Republican National Committee and the National Federation of Independent Business are among the groups have released their own videos and statements echoing Romney that the president is out of touch.

In one fundraising e-mail, Matt Rhoades, Romney’s campaign manager, decried Obama’s “naïve view that government, and not the hard work, talent, and initiative of people, is the center of society and the economy.”

In another campaign e-mail, Amanda Henneberg, a Romney spokeswoman, said Obama had “denigrated Americans who built their own businesses.”

The issue became so big that the Obama campaign felt the need to address the issue head-on in a Web video titled “Tampered” that quoted media accounts saying the quote had been taken out of context.

We put a Romney claim about the comment through the Truth-O-Meter and rated it False.