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Columbus Dispatch: Bernie Moreno Said An Ohio Confucius Institute Closed Under His Watch. It Didn’t 

Columbus, OH – While Bernie Moreno has repeatedly “bragged about eliminating” Cleveland State’s Confucius Institute while serving on the university’s Board of Trustees, a new report today revealed Moreno is lying and “the timing doesn’t line up.” Not only did the Confucius Institute continue to operate for “three years” after Moreno left the board, Moreno “approved university budgets that funded the program” totaling nearly $80,000.  The Dispatch notes this is “the latest in a string of inconsistencies that have dogged his campaign,” including lies that Moreno “escap[ed]” socialism and lies about his business origin story.

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Columbus Dispatch: Bernie Moreno said an Ohio Confucius Institute closed under his watch. It didn’t

Haley BeMiller

April 5, 2024

• “I chaired the board of trustees at Cleveland State University, and I’m very proud of the fact that when I was there, we got rid of our Confucius Institute,” Moreno said during a campaign event in March 2023. “We made certain that we focused everybody on student achievement, and we respected free speech on campus.”

• He recounted the same story in Strongsville months later: “I was a chairman of the board here at Cleveland State. I was vice chair at (Cuyahoga Community College). I’m very proud of the things that I did there, making certain that at Cleveland State we honored free speech. We got rid of our Confucius Institute. We didn’t allow our kids to be brainwashed.”

• But the timing doesn’t line up. While Moreno did chair the board, his term expired three years before Cleveland State shuttered its Confucius Institute. He also held leadership positions when trustees approved university budgets that funded the program.

• While Moreno bragged about eliminating Cleveland State’s institute, it didn’t close until 2021. He was vice chairman when trustees passed a 2017 budget that gave roughly $38,000 to the institute. The board, with Moreno as chairman, reupped that funding for the 2018 fiscal year. Both budgets passed on voice votes with no documented opposition by Moreno, according to board meeting minutes.

• Taken together, Moreno’s claims appear to overstate his involvement in the institute’s closure. 

• It’s the latest in a string of inconsistencies that have dogged his campaign. Moreno said his family fled socialism in Colombia, but the Guardian found that his home country was under a different form of government when he was born. And while Moreno opposes affirmative action policies, he bought his first dealership at a discount because Mercedes-Benz wanted more minority owners, Business Insider reported.

• “The more Ohioans learn about Moreno, the less they trust him,” Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who ran against Moreno in the primary, posted on X last month.

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Moreno Said He Is “Absolute Pro-Life, No Exceptions” And Spent $100,000 Of His Personal Fortune To Defeat Issue 1 

Columbus, OH – This week, Ohio’s Attorney General wrote in a court filing that Ohio’s dangerous abortion ban is unconstitutional due to an overwhelming majority of Ohioans supporting November Issue 1, which enshrined abortion rights into the state constitution. While Ohio’s dangerous abortion ban may be off the books,  Bernie Moreno has already said he would overturn the will of voters by supporting a national abortion ban, has said he is “100% pro-life with no exceptions” and that he is “absolute pro-life, no exceptions, and opposed Issue 1. 

“Bernie Moreno supports a national abortion ban, which would overturn the will of Ohioans who overwhelmingly voted to protect reproductive rights,” said ODP spokesperson Katie Smith. 

Reminder of Moreno’s on-the-record support for a national abortion ban: 

• Moreno supports a national abortion ban that would overturn the will of Ohioans.

• Moreno has said he is “100% pro-life with no exceptions” and that he is “absolute pro-life, no exceptions.” 

• Moreno dumped $100,000 of his personal fortune into the effort to defeat Ohio’s November Issue 1, which enshrined reproductive rights into the state constitution. If Moreno had his way, Ohio’s dangerous abortion ban would still be on the books. 

• Moreno celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

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“Moreno Can’t Govern But He Can Lie”

Columbus, OH – Bernie Moreno was caught in multiple lies last week, including “dubious claims” that he “escap[ed]” socialism that “do not withstand historical scrutiny” and lies that he built his business without “handouts” when he really received an insider deal – and Ohioans are noticing that Moreno can’t be trusted. 

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Columbus Dispatch: Letter: Bernie Moreno thinks lying is OK.

April 3, 2024 

• Moreno can’t govern but he can lie

• The overwhelming choice for Ohio U.S. Sen. is Sherrod Brown.

• He is the champion for the people, including issues that are most important like women’s reproductive rights and fair voting, and he will work in a bipartisan way.

• Candidate Moreno: it’s not OK to lie!

Visit BernieTheLemon.Com to learn more about Moreno’s long record of putting himself first. 

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Reporting Found Moreno’s Claims That He Built His Business “All On His Own” Just Aren’t True

Columbus, OH – It’s been one week since reporting found that Bernie Moreno is lying about his business origin story. Moreno claims he built his car dealership business without “handouts,” but the truth is, he received an insider deal at a “dramatically reduced price.” Moreno has centered his campaign around this lie and is now refusing to answer questions or release further information about his dealership purchase. 

Questions Bernie Moreno must answer after his business origin story lies were exposed: 

1. Why did you claim you never took handouts when reporting shows you got your dealership at a steep discount?

2. Did your campaign refuse to provide information about the 2005 sale because it shows you are lying when you say you “didn’t take handouts” and will you make documents around the deal available?

3. Are there any other details about your time in business that you wish to clarify for the people of Ohio?

4. Why have you centered your candidacy on stories that aren’t true? 

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Bernie Moreno Is Out For Himself, Not Ohioans

Columbus, OH – Bernie Moreno has spent the first two weeks of the #OHSEN general election showing Ohioans he’s only out for himself. Whether it’s his lies about escaping socialism that “do not withstand historical scrutiny,” or his claims he built his business without “handouts” despite receiving an insider deal, Moreno’s “dubious claims,” “baggage,” and “legal entanglements with underpaying his staff” prove he won’t fight for anyone but himself. 

What Ohioans have been reading / watching / hearing about Bernie Moreno:

• The Guardian: “Bernie Moreno…says his family fled socialism when they came to the US from Colombia in 1971, when he was four years old. Though such statements formed a central part of Moreno’s campaign message…they do not withstand historical scrutiny.”

• Politico: “Bernie Moreno’s family history is under scrutiny.” 

• Cleveland.com: “Although GOP Senate candidate Bernie Moreno says his family fled socialism when it came to the US from Colombia in 1971, the first leftwing Colombian government in modern times didn’t come into power until 2022, the Guardian reports.” 

• Roll Call: “Bernie Moreno, the Republican nominee in Ohio’s hotly contested Senate race, has long said his family fled socialist Colombia and settled in the United States. But The Guardian examined Moreno’s claim and found that the dates don’t add up.” 

• Raw Story: “Bernie Moreno…has long intimated that his family decided to immigrate to America from their native Colombia to escape the economic landscape created by ‘socialism.’[…] at the time Moreno’s family left Colombia in the early 1970s, there was nothing at all resembling socialism running the country.”

• Business Insider: “Moreno, an immigrant from Colombia, has frequently touted… his ability to do it all on his own […] yet when Moreno bought his first car dealership in 2005, he got some extra help…”

• Washington Post:  “He has some potential skeletons in his closet.”

• New York Times: “In Ohio, Mr. Moreno’s Republican opponents…repeatedly went after him for a lawsuit filed by an employee of one of his car dealerships, who sued him in 2017 for failure to pay overtime. The judge in the case determined that Mr. Moreno “either did not retain or shredded” monthly reports on overtime hours…Mr. Moreno did lose the suit and was ordered to pay $416,160 to his employees.”

• NBC: “…characterizing Moreno as an unprincipled businessman who mistreats employees, citing past lawsuits over workplace discrimination and overtime pay against his companies.”

• Business Insider: “The former car dealership owner has also faced several lawsuits stemming from his time in the industry, including being sanctioned by a Massachusetts judge for shredding documents that may have been relevant to a wage theft lawsuit he was facing.”

• Columbus Dispatch: “[Moreno] was also dogged by legal trouble from his car dealership days, including over a dozen lawsuits in Massachusetts that accused him of not properly paying overtime to his employees.”

• Cincinnati Enquirer: “Moreno’s campaign was sidetracked down the stretch when reports surfaced that he had settled a series of wage theft lawsuits and was once caught shredding documents.”

• WCPN: “Ohio Democrats have been pretty aggressive… and so I think Democrats do intend to use the baggage they see Moreno carries.” 

• David Niven, University of Cincinnati: “Bernie Moreno, whose career was as a car dealer and who has some, you know, legal entanglements with underpaying his staff”

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