Tancredo wrong: Romanoff said nothing about White House job offer

Filling in for Denver talk-radio host Peter Boyles, former Congressman Tom Tancredo repeated an inaccurate version of the Romanoff- White House job-offer story that is fueling the controversy.

Tancredo said U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff claimed he was offered a job by the White House but, as watch dog group Media Matters reports, Romanoff has never said he was offered a job. The Denver Post reported the story in September citing only anonymous sources.

“We’ve got a primary going on between the incumbent Senator Bennet and challenger Romanoff, who was in the state legislature for a long time,” Tancredo said. “And Romanoff said at one point in time that Yes, indeed, an offer was made but now he refuses– and all of his people refuse– to comment on it.”

The Denver Post reported that before Romanoff officially announced he would run against Bennet, the Obama White House offered him a job, suggesting that it might have been a spot with USAID, the country’s international development agency.

The White House has denied there was ever any quid pro quo dealing with Romanoff, where they White House would in effect have been exchanging a position to guarantee Bennet a primary-less march to the general election. The administration is currently weathering a media storm over job negotiations it conducted with Rep. Joe Sestak, who ran in the primary against Arlen Specter for his Pennsylvania Senate seat. Specter lost the nomination.

Peter Boyles Show: 05/31/10

TANCREDO: I do want to get your opinion on these job offers, one made by Bill Clinton on behalf of the White House apparently. Rohm Emanuel went to [Clinton] and told him to go to Sestak and offer him something if he would bow out of the race. [Sestak] chose not to. Apparently something similar happened here in Colorado. We’ve got a primary going on between the incumbent Senator Bennet and challenger Romanoff, who was in the state legislature for a long time. And Romanoff said at one point in time that Yes, indeed, an offer was made but now he refuses– and all of his people refuse– to comment on it.

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