During an appearance on Laura Ingraham’s radio show this morning, Rick Santorum suggested that Mitt Romney’s campaign pressured USA Today to remove a now-infamous 2009 op-ed, in which the former governor urged President Obama to “learn” lessons from Massachusetts’ health care reform plan and use “tax penalties” to avoid “free riders” in the system. The article — first uncovered by BuzzFeed — is not on the paper’s website and was only discovered through “the former Governor’s old website via the web archive.” “I don’t know how that happens,” Santorum exclaimed to Ingraham:
SANTORUM: You know, it’s really interesting Laura that the USA Today op-ed was somehow removed from the archives. Now, I don’t know how that happens.
INGRAHAM: What, you think the Romney campaign had it removed? Do you think the Romney campaign had it removed?
SANTORUM: I have no idea, I just found it odd.
INGRAHAM: Why are you raising it then?
SANTORUM: Well, because I found it odd don’t you — that that particular op-ed was removed from the archives. And here is a situation where Gov. Romney is out there trying to make a narrative that doesn’t comport with the facts. [...]
INGRAHAM: Well, I think it’s a little odd too, but stranger things have happened in this campaign.
Listen:
As ThinkProgress has reported, Romney has repeatedly called for a federal mandate, going so far as to argue that while states can adopt their own policies, “we’ll end up with a nation that’s taken a mandate approach.” For a full timeline of his evolution, click here.
Previous in TP Health
By clicking and submitting a comment I acknowledge the ThinkProgress Privacy Policy and agree to the ThinkProgress Terms of Use. I understand that my comments are also being governed by Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, or Hotmail’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policies as applicable, which can be found here.