Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe once claimed that he "created over 100,000 jobs"--and his campaign would not say Wednesday if he still stands by the number.
The media has scrutinized the business record of the prolific Democratic fundraiser in recent weeks, especially in light of his December resignation from the board of GreenTech Automotive.
McAuliffe made the jobs claim in a 2009 debate with Brian Moran, National Journal reported Thursday:
At a debate during his failed 2009 campaign, McAuliffe declared he "created over 100,000 jobs—good-paying jobs with benefits and good wages. That’s what I’ll do as governor." A Democratic rival scoffed that McAuliffe apparently had created more jobs than Microsoft's Bill Gates.
McAuliffe’s campaign on Wednesday did not respond directly to questions about whether he stands by the 100,000 jobs—the same number Republican presidential nominee Romney struggled to defend in the 2012 campaign. [...]
McAuliffe is still pitching himself as a job creator, though he apparently hasn’t repeated the 100,000 figure and quietly resigned as chairman of the GreenTech electric car company that he once boasted would employ 900 people. (The company never built a manufacturing plant in Virginia as originally planned, and its facilities in Missisippi have not yet begun major production.) Cuccinelli’s campaign is assailing McAuliffe’s departure from GreenTech in December in an online ad, in addition to pointing to his $8 million profit from a telecommunications company called Global Crossing that laid off 10,000 employees when it went bust. McAuliffe was an investor and never served as a board member or company officer.
"In fact, your record of creating jobs must be questioned," Moran said in the 2009 debate. "Three-hundred-thousand Virginians are out of work right now, they are vulnerable to someone claiming that they have created 100,000 jobs."
"That's just not true, Terry," Moran continued. "A 100,000 jobs is more than Bill Gates and Microsoft."