Monday, June 11, 2012

Use Snopes to check internet/e-mail rumors

Claim: Ann Romney said men "deserve to be paid at a higher rate" than women.

Did Ann Romney really say this:
"Why should women be paid equal to men? Men have been in the working world a lot longer and deserve to be paid at a higher rate. Heck, I'm a working mom and I've not paid a dime. I depend on my husband to provide for me and my family, as should most women ... and if a woman does work, she should be happy just to be out there in the working world and quit complaining that she's not making as much as her male counterparts. I mean really, all this wanting to be equal nonsense is going to be detrimental to the future of women everywhere. Who's going to want to hire a woman, or for that matter, even marry a woman who thinks she is the same, if not better than a man at any job. It's almost laughable. C'mon now ladies, are you with me on this?"

The article I read says this was a direct quote from a "Moms for Mitt" meeting in Philadelphia on April 17th.
Answer: NO. It's an unattributed excerpt from a spoof article published on 18 April 2012 by the satirical web site Free Wood Post, whose disclaimer notes that:
Free Wood Post is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within FreeWoodPost.com are fiction, and presumably fake news.
Also, you can check urbanlegends and hoax-slayer. You'll find both on our LINKS page.