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30 September 2011updated 12 Oct 2023 10:57am

Romney’s Churchill gaffe

Republican challenger mistakenly attributes Keynes quote to Churchill in debate.

By George Eaton

As regular readers will know, Mitt Romney is fond of turning to former British prime ministers for inspiration. In June, he borrowed Margaret Thatcher’s most famous poster and declared “Obama isn’t working“. He’s also, like many Republicans, a keen admirer of Winston Churchill (he has vowed to bring back the bronze bust of Churchill that Obama removed from the Oval Office.) At a debate in New Hampshire on Wednesday, he declared:

‘In the private sector, if you don’t change your view when the facts change, well you’ll get fired for being stubborn and stupid. Winston Churchill said, “When the facts change, I change too, Madam”.’

The problem, of course, is that it wasn’t Churchill but Keynes who remarked: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir? ” In the event that Romney wins in 2012, perhaps Cameron should present him with a dictionary of quotations.

Hat-tip: Jonathan Jones.

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