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Columbus, OH – After the New York Times detailed Moreno’s phony “riches-to-rags-to-riches” story, an “unearthed radio interview is shedding light on how long Moreno has been telling that lie” to Ohio voters as part of a “calculated process of self-creation” on the campaign trail. 

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American Journal: Republican Bernie Moreno’s rags-to-riches story exposed as a lie
Jesse Valentine
May 24, 2024

• A New York Times report from May 12 revealed that Ohio U.S. candidate Bernie Moreno lied about the details of his hardscrabble upbringing. Now, an unearthed radio interview is shedding light on how long Moreno has been telling that lie.

• Moreno, a wealthy Republican who owns a chain of car dealerships, launched his campaign last year. 

• Moreno’s family immigrated to the United States from Colombia when he was five years old. They settled in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Moreno has stated that he, his six siblings, and his parents came to the country “with nothing” and moved into a “two-bedroom apartment.” He described his upbringing as “lower middle class.”

• The New York Times says this is an embellishment. Moreno’s family was wealthy in Colombia and politically connected. His father was an American-educated physician who held positions in the upper echelons of the Colombian government. When Moreno’s family came to the United States in 1971, they bought a three bedroom seaside condominium. 

• Within four months, Moreno’s family relocated to a four-bedroom house in Pompano Beach. The home had a pool and ocean access.

• The New York Times dated Moreno’s misrepresentations to at least 2023. But, as heard in a 2021 interview on the Bruce Hooley Show, Moreno made similar statements during his failed 2022 campaign for the U.S. Senate.

• Hooley asked Moreno about his immigrant background.

• “We moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, moved the seven of us, plus my mom and dad moved into a two bedroom apartment in Pompano Beach, Florida,” Moreno said.

• This narrative is central to Moreno’s campaign pitch. In his campaign launch video, he connects his immigrant experience to his status as a political outsider. 

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Ohio Auto Workers to Moreno: “Lying Doesn’t Change The Truth — You Sold Those Cars And Put Your Own Profits Before Us And Contributed To Ohio Losing Jobs And Our Plants Closing.”

Columbus, OH – Auto workers from across Ohio wrote to Bernie Moreno last week, calling him out for “lying” about selling the Chinese-made Buick Envision and “put[ting] [his] profits before us and contribut[ing] to Ohio losing jobs and our plants closing.” The letter from auto workers follows reporting that revealed Moreno lied about selling the Chinese-made Buick Envision. Since the report was released, workers from across Ohio are saying they “cannot trust Moreno” because he “sold out American workers” and contributed to “Ohio jobs being shipped overseas.” 

Lying about selling the Chinese-made Envision is one lie in a “series of inconsistencies” that are “dogg[ing]” Moreno on the campaign trail – including Moreno lying about his phony “riches-to-rags-to-riches,” story,  lying about his family “escap[ing]” socialism, lying about his business origin story, and lying about shutting down Cleveland State’s Confucius Institute.  

Norwalk Reflector: Union leaders say Moreno lying
Matt Westerhold
May 27, 2024

• Leaders from 14 United Auto Workers union locals in Ohio on Friday denounced Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, contending he put profits before people when he was an auto dealer and lied about it.

• At issue are claims Moreno has made on the campaign trail that when he was an auto dealer he refused to sell Chinese-made vehicles because that hurt union families in the state.

• Those statements earlier this year weren’t the whole story, however, because according to union officials Moreno not only sold the Envision, he hyped it in promotions and advertising campaigns without ever telling consumers it was not made in America, according to the union presidents.

• “Lying doesn’t change the truth — you sold those cars and put your own profits before us and contributed to Ohio losing jobs and our plants closing,” the letter from the union leaders states. “It’s the kind of thing Ohio workers have seen too many times before, when corporate bosses are too willing to sell out the people who make their companies great in the first place.” 

• The letter cites “plants like Lordstown,” that close and cause jobs to leave the state.

• “We’ve seen it time and time again,” the letter states. “The last thing we need is another corporate suit in Washington voting against our interests.” 

• “Bernie Moreno repeatedly claimed on the campaign trail that he didn’t sell the Chinese-made Envision, but he sold the cars for years, even though it hurt Ohio workers,” an AFL-CIO news release states. 

• The union presidents told Moreno he would never get union support.

• The letter is signed by union presidents at UAW Locals in Toledo, Troy, Defiance, Streetsboro, Parma, Cleveland, Warren, Lima, Delaware, Ashtabula, Amherst, Willoughby, Coshocton and Zanesville.

• U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat seeking his fourth six-year term in the Senate in the Nov. 5 election, has long been a friend of labor. He’s championed dignity of work during his Senate career and has fought unfair trade practices that give Chinese steel companies unfair advantages in the marketplace. 

SEE ALSO: ICYMI: Labor Leaders Hit GOP Senate Candidate Bernie Moreno Over China-Made Vehicle Sales [Toledo Blade]; Ohio Workers Slam Moreno For Killing Ohio Jobs After Reporting Revealed He Lied About Selling Chinese-Made Cars; QUICK CLIPS: Ohio Workers Slam Bernie Moreno For Lying About Selling Chinese-Made Cars; Bernie Moreno Again Caught Lying, This Time About Selling Chinese-Made Buick Envision

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Columbus, OH – Ohio Senate candidate and car salesman Bernie Moreno – who “has a problem telling the truth” – continues to face scrutiny for the phony “rags-to-riches” story he tells on the campaign trail as part of a “calculated process of self-creation.” While Moreno spent his week hobnobbing with donors behind closed doors, Ohioans are noticing Moreno’s “dubious claims” are “full of s***.” 

NEED-TO-KNOW THIS WEEK:

• In a new video, Ohioans react to the New York Times reporting that exposed Bernie Moreno’s phony “riches-to-rags-to-riches,” “only-in-America bootstraps story,” – noting that Moreno is “full of s***.” 

• Moreno faced more scrutiny as it becomes even clearer Moreno’s claims about his upbringing are “not really true,” and his “calculated process of self-creation” is falling apart.
  

💰PHONY RAGS-TO-RICHES STORY IS “FULL OF S***”:  Ohioans are seeing that Moreno is untrustworthy and may have “ulterior motive[s]” after a recent New York Times report found Moreno is lying about his “rags-to-riches” story. Here’s what Ohioans are saying about Moreno omitting details of his “rich and politically connected family” during his “signature pitch” of his candidacy:

• “Highly suspect.“

• “They probably have some kind of ulterior motive.”

• “They’re a horrible person for lying. Don’t pretend to be something that you’re not just to gain sympathy.”

• “How would you believe anything else they say? It’s not true.”

• “I would think they were trying to cover up something or trying to fool people into believing something for a reason.” 

• “I would definitely think that they have some kind of ulterior motive by saying that.” 

• “Well, then they full of s***”

🙊 “NO PUBLIC EVENTS IN THE AREA:” Moreno continues to have a “quiet public schedule recently,” spending his week behind closed doors with rich donors while refusing to meaningfully address the long list of serious questions facing his campaign. 

Outside of Moreno’s Toledo fundraiser, Ohioans gathered to call him out for his lies:

🕵️ SUSPECT STORY UNDER SCRUTINY:  In the week since the New York Times “destroyed” Bernie Moreno’s phony “riches-to-rags-to-riches” story, Ohioans are reading / watching / listening about Moreno’s claims about his upbringing being “not really true.”   

• TIME: “In Ohio, especially, GOP nominee Bernie Moreno faces a clear narrative problem around his personal story.”

• WLWT: “The [New York Times] found Moreno was born into a rich and politically connected family in Bogotá….On the campaign trail, Moreno’s narrative has leaned heavily on his family starting over in the United States, saying his parents and their seven children ‘left everything’ behind to live in a two-bedroom apartment in Florida. The New York Times counters that claim, reporting instead that Moreno’s family initially lived in a three-bedroom condo in a high-rise building on the beach in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. Two months later, the family moved to a four-bedroom house using money lent to them by a family member.”

• Chris Quinn, Today In Ohio: “New York Times destroyed [Moreno’s] rags to riches story a couple of weeks ago…with a piece that looked at him coming to America. He paints this picture, they came and they lived in almost squalid conditions. It’s not really true.”

• Anna Staver, WOSU: “So, according to the Times, his family was both wealthy and well-connected in Bogota, where they used to live. One of his brothers even served as the Colombian ambassador to the United States, and that cramped first two-bedroom apartment was actually a luxury waterfront condo, which they quickly traded in for a very nice house.” 

• Marty Schladen, Ohio Capital Journal: “And this New York Times story gives a little bit of a lie to it, you know. Bernie’s dad was an Ivy League trained surgeon and he came with advantages that, you know…a lot of them don’t have.”

• Andrew Tobias, Cleveland.com: “His dad was personal physician to the president of Colombia, he was the equivalent to the U.S. health secretary down there, so very well connected family for sure.”

❓MORENO DODGES QUESTIONS: While Moreno hides behind closed doors, here is a reminder of the questions he owes Ohioans answers to about the “string of inconsistencies” “dogg[ing]” his campaign: 

• Why are you claiming on the campaign trail that you had a “lower-middle-class status” and lived a “bootstraps story,” when your family was actually “rich and politically connected,” lived in a luxury oceanfront condo, and “never completely left behind” your wealth and status?

• Why are you lying to Ohio workers by claiming you never sold Chinese-made SUVs? Will you apologize to Ohio workers who have criticized you for contributing to their jobs being “shipped overseas” and “hurt[ing] Mahoning Valley workers and families?”

• Why are you lying about shutting down Cleveland State’s Confucius Institute? 

• Why are you lying about escaping socialism?

• Why did you claim you “didn’t take handouts” when reporting shows you got your dealership at a steep discount? Will you make documents around your 2005 insider deal available? 

🐤 TWEET OF THE WEEK: 

🎶 CODA: “If you’re a voter, do you want [Moreno] who’s really done nothing more than make a lot of money selling cars?”

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Columbus, OH –  After the New York Times detailed Bernie Moreno’s phony “riches-to-rags-to-riches” story, Moreno is facing more scrutiny from WLWT for lying to Ohio voters as part of  a “calculated process of self-creation” on the campaign trail. 

Read more:

WLWT: Ohio GOP Senate candidate Bernie Moreno responds to report on his immigrant origins

Hannah Thomas

May 22, 2024

• For the first time, Ohio’s Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno is responding to a New York Times story examining his origins as an immigrant from Colombia.

• The article found Moreno was born into a rich and politically connected family in Bogotá. On the campaign trail, Moreno’s narrative has leaned heavily on his family starting over in the United States, saying his parents and their seven children “left everything” behind to live in a two-bedroom apartment in Florida.

• The New York Times counters that claim, reporting instead that Moreno’s family initially lived in a three-bedroom condo in a high-rise building on the beach in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. Two months later, the family moved to a four-bedroom house using money lent to them by a family member.

• A spokesperson with Brown’s campaign said “With each passing day, new reports expose that Bernie Moreno cannot be trusted – whether it’s the lies he tells about his life or the many lawsuits he’s faced from his employees. Bernie Moreno has made clear he won’t put the people of Ohio first.”

SEE ALSO: WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: New York Times Reporting “Destroyed” Moreno’s Phony Rags-To-Riches Story; One Week Since NYT Revealed Moreno’s Phony “Rags-To-Riches Tale,” Four Questions Moreno Must Answer; Four Days Since NYT Revealed Moreno’s Phony “Rags-To-Riches Tale,” Four Questions Moreno Must Answer; WHAT OHIOANS ARE READING: “Questions Have Arisen” About Moreno’s Phony “Riches-To-Rags-To-Riches” Story; Four Questions for Bernie Moreno About Phony “Rags-To-Riches Tale”; Bernie Moreno Faces Further Scrutiny For Phony “Rags-To-Riches Tale”; Moreno’s “String of Inconsistencies” Grows with Phony “Rags-To-Riches” Tale; WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: Bernie Moreno “Under Fire” For Phony “Riches-To-Rags-To-Riches” Story That “Isn’t What He Says”; NEW: NYT Report Details Bernie Moreno’s Phony “Rags-To-Riches Tale” & Lies About “Bootstraps Story” As Part Of “Calculated Process of Self-Creation”

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