Comedian and presidential candidate Roseanne Barr doesn't buy Ann Romney's claims of being a hardworking stay-at-home mom.
Democratic strategist handed Republicans a "fat political softball," in Barr's words, when she asserted last week that millionaire mother-of-five Romney had "never worked a day in her life." A slew of Republicans — including Romney herself — came forward to point out that motherhood is a full-time job, and accused Democrats of being anti-family.
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But Barr asserts that for Romney, motherhood was likely a full-time job that included lots of help — despite son Ben Romney's assertion that it did not. The younger Romney said last week that his mother never had nanny or any other hired help with him and his brothers when they were growing up.
The Romneys' tax records show that they paid a total of $20,603 to four household employees in 2010, which suggests that all four worked part time that year. All of the Romney children were adults by then.
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But Barr, who is seeking the Green Party presidential nomination, speculated that the Romneys may have had help when their children were growing up from an undocumented worker. She did not offer any evidence that that was the case, but called for tracking down a "cleaning lady" for questioning.
"Mrs. Mitt Romney claims to have worked her toned ass off, raising five Romney males all on her own, as privileged wives often do — but, no, Ann, I call bullshit on your Big Mama story, girlfriend," Barr wrote for the Daily Beast. "Your son may flash that 'I adore my mother' grin on cable TV all day as he backs up your claims that you did it all on your own with no help — except from a 'lady' who comes in one or two hours a week to help with housework.
"Of course neither Mrs. Mitt Romney nor her son knew the name of the 'cleaning lady,' either, because like 99 percent of rich people, they are oblivious to those women who do work outside the home, even when they work inside the home of the Romney family. I say let’s find that 'cleaning lady' (if she is documented) and ask HER how many hours she worked per week over the years."
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In 2007, Romney said he would fire a lawn care company that worked at his home after the Boston Globe reported that it employed admitted undocumented workers. But none of the workers were alleged to have worked inside the Romney home.