Image via Complex Original
With the final presidential debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney behind us, both candidates are expected to push their campaigns hard on the technology front heading into Election Day. Our Commander in Chief solidified his tech credentials even before stepping foot into the Oval Office. Romney on the other hand hasn’t shared the same success. A number of slip-ups from his team, along with false claims, and a handful of, um, unfavorable Google search results have made the Republican nominee look slightly tech illiterate. The proof is in the pudding. From social media blunders to the infamous Etch A Sketch gaffe, get a closer look at Mitt Romney’s Biggest Tech Fails.
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11. "Stroke Dat" Flickr Comment
Date: Sept. 9, 2011
Romney’s social media admin(s) apparently took a break from monitoring the Rupblican's official Flickr page, leaving this hilarious remark sitting in the Comments and Faves section for several days. This obviously played an intricate role in igniting the “Mom Jeans Mitt” memes craze. Thank user nonameee1 for this one.
10. Etch A Sketch Jibe
Date: May 22, 2012
“Everything changes. It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again.” Senior aide Eric Fehrnstorm’s comments would forever haunt the presidential candidate, opening the flood gates for Democrats and Republican adversaries like Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum to take shots at Mitt by bringing the device to campaign rallies. While the company behind the classic childhood toy saw a 30 percent spike in sales, Romney’s still trying to shake off the gibe.
9. Fake China Apple Store Fact Check
Date: Oct. 17, 2012
To no surprise, Romney misused a report on an unauthorized Apple reseller in Kunming, China, during the second presidential debate against President Obama, claiming that the retail outlet was a “counterfeit Apple store, selling counterfeit goods.” Fact checkers did what they do best and found out the retail chain does sell authentic Apple products, making Romney look like an ass on national television for the umpthteenth time.
8. Criticizes Obama's Green Efforts, Has Three Ventures Collapse
Date: June 6, 2012
Romney called out President Obama on his failed attempts to create jobs in the green sector after watching the solar panel maker Solyndra receive a $535 million federal loan and go bankrupt. William Osborn of the Massachusetts Green Energy Fund, a project Romney helped launch during his tenure as governor, called our his bullshit and stated “he supported this stuff back then.” Then it was discovered that three of Romney's 12 energy-funded projects had closed shop. Don't throw stones if you live in a glass house, homey.
7. Romney's WaWa Touchscreen Experience
Date: June 18, 2012
As MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell best put it: “This was Mitt Romney’s supermarket scanner moment.” During a campaign speech in Pennsylvania, Romney felt obligated to share his experience on buying a sandwich using a touchscreen at a WaWa Food Market. His reaction? Ecstatic to say the least. "I went to a place called Wawa's today, you ever been there?" Asked Romney. "You press a little touchtone keypad, you touch this, touch this, go pay the cashier, there's your sandwich." It’s amazing,Somebody get this guy a smartphone.
6. Breaks Facebook Rules
Date: June 13, 2012
According to Facebook’s regulations on Cover Photos, subscribers are prohibited from promoting "information intended for your Page's About section." That includes any mailing, email, or web addresses. Looks like Captain America didn't get the memo. Seriously, who handles this dude's social media campaigns?
5. Googling Romney
Date: Feb. 15, 2012
Even before the whole “completely wrong” search controversy transpired, Google was shitting on the GOP candidate. Pun intended. As you’ll notice from the screen grab above, those who Googled the term “Romney” earlier this year might have noticed a site called SpreadingRomney.com, which provided an unflattering definition of the former governor. Worst of all, you didn’t even have to click on the link to see it as the site’s meta description displayed it for the entire Internet audience.
4. Romney App Mispells America
Date: May 29, 2012
God Bless Amercia? Wow. One has to seriously question the credibility of a presidential elect who endorses a mobile app that misspells the name of the nation he’s campaigning to run. Romney’s official With Mitt iPhone app was developed for supporters to photograph themselves and add a pro-Romney slogan to their self-portraits. Of the 14 available, one read: "A Better Amercia." #Fail.
3. Caught Buying Twitter Followers
Date: Aug. 6, 2012
Research organization Baraccuda Labs did some investigating after Romney’s Twitter account spiked 152,966 followers in one day. The company mentioned 15 percent of his following came from fake accounts generated by pay-for-followers services. The Romney camp quickly denied the allegations. Then it was revealed that he previously snagged an extra 100,000 during the Colorado shooting incident, which Twitter political metrics specialists 140ELECT picked up on. The report speaks for itself.
2. VP App Fails to Notify Public of Running Mate
Date: Aug. 11, 2012
In an effort to announce Romney's vice presidential pick, the RNC over-hyped its Mitt’s VP app claiming voters would be notified first of the decision before “the press and just about everyone else.” The app failed to alert its 200,000 users in time as the media broke the news of Paul Ryan joining the team. Romney’s team even sent out a press release to reporters informing them of the news, leaving those who downloaded the app in the dark until the following morning.
1. "Completely Wrong"
Date: Oct. 10, 2012
If you were to search the phrase “completely wrong” on Google Images, the search engine would have returned pages upon pages of Mitt Romney photos. According to a Google spokeperson, the massive collection of images was the “unintentional result of normal Google analytics,” generating photos based on popular phrases featured in search terms and news headlines. Riiight.
