Axelrod charged Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that the return was manipulated to give a false impression of the Romney family’s finances and “boost” the amount Romney paid to the federal government.

“Two months ago, on your own air, he said that anybody who didn’t take the deductions they were owed wasn’t qualified to be president,” Axelrod told host George Stephanopoulos. “Well, I guess he’s not qualified, because that’s exactly what he did last week to try and get his number up from 9 or 10 percent to 14 percent.