In a separate call, campaign manager Jim Messina called it one of the “most misleading, hypocritical, and indefensible ads we’ve ever seen in a presidential race.”

The dispute over the Jeep claim began last week when Romney said in a speech in Defiance, Ohio, that the company’s parent, Chrysler, “is thinking of moving all production to China.” This prompted a blunt response from Chrysler, which noted that not only was the claim false, but that the company was actually adding new jobs in Toledo as part of a $500 million investment in its factory there.