President Obama argued during his speech Friday night in Roanoke, Va., that entrepreneurs only succeed when government lets them, saying: “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”
“You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, ‘well, it must be because I was just so smart,’” he added.
With language like that, it’s not really surprising that small-business advocacy groups are a little, um, “irate.”
The Blaze has more, but in short …
The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), the nation’s leading bipartisan small-business advocacy group, has released a statement criticizing President Obama for saying that it’s only through the grace of government that anyone has ever succeeded.
“What a disappointment to hear President Obama‘s revealing comments challenging the significance of America’s entrepreneurs,” NFIB President Dan Danne said in a statement to Mail Online.
“His unfortunate remarks over the weekend show an utter lack of understanding and appreciation for the people who take a huge personal risk and work endless hours to start a business and create jobs,” he added.
“I’m sure every small-business owner who took a second mortgage on their home, maxed out their credit cards or borrowed money from their own retirement savings to start their business disagrees strongly with President Obama’s claim,” an NFIB spokesman said.
“They know that hard work does matter,” he added. “Every small business is not indebted to the government or some other benefactor. If anything, small businesses are historically an economic and job-creating powerhouse in spite of the government.”
Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said the president’s comments “reflect just how unqualified he is to lead us to a real economic recovery” and were “insulting to the hardworking entrepreneurs, small-business owners, and job creators who are the backbone of our economy.”
A video of President Obama’s remarks and more context is provided by The Blaze, click here for more.