As if Mitt Romney hadn’t been receiving fire from all sides already.
The man who collects the garbage from his oceanfront mansion in La Jolla, California became the latest to take aim at the Republican presidential nominee when he appeared in an ad blasting the former Massachusetts governor for not caring about people like himself.
“My name is Richard Hayes, and I pick up Mitt Romney’s trash,” he said. “We’re kind of like the invisible people. He doesn’t realize that the service we provide – if it wasn’t for us, it would be a big health issue, us not picking up trash.
“Residents do come out and shake our hands. Sometimes they give us hugs and thank us for the job we’re doing, hand us water and Gatorades. Tell us we’re doing a good job and keep up the good work. Picking up 15, 16 tons by hand, that takes a toll on your body. When I’m 55, 60 years old, I know my body’s gonna be break down. Mitt Romney doesn’t care about that.”
The ridiculous ad is from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. It remains unclear how often Hayes ever interacted with Romney while picking up the trash, if at all.
Dubbed by AFSCME as one of the “people who make America happen,” Hayes talks about his laborious job, and criticizes the GOP nominee for not caring about the government-dependent “47 percent” of voters who the candidate believes won’t vote for him anyway:
This video is reportedly the first in a series of interviews with real workers, meant to be “part campaign attack, part online testimonial, part survey tool and part recruiting tool.”
The ad plays off the secretly recorded comments Romney made at a Boca Raton, Florida fundraiser in May in which he disparaged supporters of President Barack Obama as part of the 47 percent who didn’t pay federal taxes, felt entitled to government largesse and considered themselves to be victims.
Romney has long fought perceptions that he is a wealthy aristocrat who is out-of-touch with ordinary Americans and their concerns.
