GOPer Doubles Down On Outsourcing: ‘We Closed Down Plants All The Time’

Georgia Republican candidate for U.S. Senate David Perdue at a rally at McDonough Square in Henry County Friday, Oct. 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Akili-Casundria Ramsess)
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At the last Georgia debate for U.S. Senate before the midterm elections Republican David Perdue said “no” when asked if he had ever outsourced during his career. That seemed to contradict comments Perdue made in a July 2005 deposition where he spent “most” of his career outsourcing.

On Monday, Perdue was pressed on whether he had ever been involved in outsourcing as CEO of textile manufacturer Pillowtex (the deposition was part of a lawsuit by creditors of Pillowtex) or Dollar General, a business he likes to cite when talking about his business background. The exchange was flagged by the opposition research shop American Bridge.

A reporter asked Perdue what his reasoning was for saying he’d never outsourced jobs.

“Well if you look at Dollar General for example, we created about 8,000 jobs there in less than 4 years. We outsourced all of our products. That’s a different thing than outsourcing jobs. That’s what we were talking about at the debate,” Perdue said.

Perdue was then asked if manufacturing facilities were moved under his watch.

“No. What we did, basically, in my career, is create jobs — thousands of jobs —right here in the state of Georgia and in America. I’ve done that my entire career,” Perdue said.

But did he close plants?

“Sure, we closed down plants all the time. I mean, but it was never a direct relationship with things going on offshore,” Perdue said.

After the initial outsourcing story concerning the Pillowtex deposition, Perdue later was asked if he would defend his record on outsourcing.

“Defend it? I’m proud of it,” Perdue said. “This is part of American business, party of any business. Outsourcing is the procurement of products and services to help your business run. People do that all day.”

Perdue is the Republican running against Democrat Michelle Nunn. The TPM Polltracker average finds Perdue with a 5.3 point lead over the rest of the field.

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