“[Moreno] paints this picture, they came and they lived in almost squalid conditions. It’s not really true.”

Columbus, OH –  In the week since the New York Times “destroyed” Bernie Moreno’s phony “riches-to-rags-to-riches” story, Ohioans are seeing Moreno’s lies about his upbringing are “not really true” as his “calculated process of self-creation” is falling apart. As the pressure on Moreno builds, he still refuses to answer important questions about lying to Ohioans.

LISTEN: TODAY IN OHIO

Chris Quinn, Today In Ohio: “New York Times destroyed [Moreno’s] rags to riches story a couple of weeks ago.”

Laura Johnston, Today In Ohio: “Right, [Moreno is] not blue collar.”

Chris Quinn, Today In Ohio: “– with a piece that looked at him coming to America. He paints this picture, they came and they lived in almost squalid conditions. It’s not really true.”

LISTEN: WOSU’S ALL SIDES WITH ANNA STAVER REPORTER ROUNDTABLE

Anna Staver, WOSU: “The New York Times combed through [Moreno’s] background and found his childhood was a little bit different than the way he’s been describing it on the campaign trail.”

Anna Staver, WOSU: “So, according to the Times, his family was both wealthy and well-connected in Bogota, where they used to live. One of his brothers even served as the Colombian ambassador to the United States, and that cramped first two-bedroom apartment was actually a luxury waterfront condo, which they quickly traded in for a very nice house.”

Marty Schladen, Ohio Capital Journal: “And this New York Times story gives a little bit of a lie to it, you know. Bernie’s dad was an Ivy League trained surgeon and he came with advantages that, you know…a lot of them don’t have.”

Andrew Tobias, Cleveland.com: “His dad was personal physician to the president of Colombia he was the equivalent to the U.S. health secretary down there, so very well connected family for sure.”

Reminder Of The Questions Moreno Must Answer After Lying To Ohioans About His Phony “Rags-To-Riches” Story:

1. Why did you tell a false story about the “modest circumstances” of your childhood when your family “never completely left behind” your wealth and status?

2. Why did you lie about moving into a cramped, two-bedroom apartment that was in reality a “three-bedroom condominium in a new, 15-story high-rise” with private beach access and “a pool, a putting green and a sauna” before you almost immediately moved into a four-bedroom house?

3. Why are you claiming you had a “lower-middle-class status” on the campaign trail when your family was actually “rich and politically connected?”

4. Why are you trying to mislead Ohio voters through a clearly “calculated process of self-creation?”