Today, Tim Pawlenty will appear at a Mitt Romney campaign event in his home state of Minnesota. We thought we'd mark the occasion by reminding Minnesotans that the relationship between their former governor and Mitt Romney hasn't always been so warm: In fact, Pawlenty slammed Romneycare as the blueprint for the Affordable Care Act, accused Romney of dodging the debt debate, and even said he regretted dropping out of the 2012 presidential campaign after he endorsed Romney. Seems like a half-hearted endorsement at best.
Here's some of T-Paw's greatest hits on Romney. For more, check out our complete research document.
- Less than a month after endorsing Romney for president, Pawlenty said he would have stayed in the race "if I had known then what I know now."
- "I don't think we can have a nominee that was involved in the development and construction of Obamacare."
- "President Obama said that he designed Obamacare after Romneycare—and basically made it Obamneycare."
- Pawlenty called out Romney for not outlining his stance on the debt ceiling debate, tweeting, "What say you @MittRomney?"