In Video, Obama Calls Romney's Small Business Attacks ‘False’

A comment President Obama made last week about small businesses has become a driving issue in the campaign this week, with Mitt Romney running an ad on the issue and the Obama team pushing back.

At a campaign stop in Roanoke, Va., last week, Obama attempted to make a point about how businesses not only succeed through individual effort, but also through collective action – citing the role of bridges, roads and the Internet as examples. At one point, however, he said the following: “Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business, that-- you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen.”

Republicans seized on the comment, claiming it showed that the president believes the government is the only answer to the country’s problems.

This week Romney began using the line in his campaign appearances. On Thursday, the Romney campaign released a web video highlighting the comments edited out of context. The video featured  the owner of a small business from New Hampshire named Jack Gilchrist saying, “why are you demonizing us?” On Friday, a 30-second version was released as a television ad.

On Thursday, Obama’s campaign released their own video accusing Romney of “launching a false attack,” and claiming the two agree on the point Obama was trying to make.