Presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney defended statements he made at a private fundraiser that was secretly recorded by someone attending (or working at) the fundraiser.
Speaking at the $50,000-per-plate closed door fundraising dinner back in May, Romney is heard saying 47 percent of voters are non-tax payers who voted for President Obama because they think they are victims. Romney may have gotten the 40% figure from a Tax Policy Center report that found 46.4% of households in America do not pay taxes.In the video that was uploaded to YouTube.com by Mother Jones magazine, Romney said voters who elected Obama into office are “dependent upon government,” and they “believe that they are victims.” Romney said Obama’s supporters “believe the government has a responsibility to care for them,” and believe that they are “entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it,”“My job is not to worry about those people,” said Romney. “I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
After the video went viral on Monday, Romney’s camp arranged a hasty press conference so he could defend his statements.
While admitting his words could have been more “elegantly stated,” Romney said: “My campaign is about helping people take more responsibility.”
David Corn, who wrote the Mother Jones story, told Rachel Maddow that the video was recorded on May 17 at a fundraiser held at the private residence of a banker in Boca Raton, Fla.
Romney can be heard on the video saying if the Hispanics throw their support behind Obama as blacks have in the past, “we’re in trouble as a party and, I think, as a nation.”
The video, which was blurred to obscure the faces of the well-heeled Republican supporters, was from a camera located at the back of the room, near the waiters’ table,
Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Tuesday, September 18th 2012 at 2:03PM
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