Romney's '47 Percent' Victims Video Goes Viral

8 months ago

Candidate holds impromptu news conference to clarify his point

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s campaign is beginning the week with yet another campaign distraction. On Monday, left-leaning magazine Mother Jones released stealthily-captured video of the candidate saying “47 percent” of all Americans “believe that they are victims” entitled to government handouts. “There are…people who will vote for [President Barack Obama] no matter what…who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims…These are people who pay no income taxes,” Romney told Florida supporters at a private fundraiser in May. During an impromptu news conference in Los Angeles on Monday, Romney did not deny the authenticity of his comments and said he could have spoken more elegantly about the difference between his “free market approach” and Obama’s “government-centered society.” James Carter, the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, is credited for releasing the hidden video. Below view video of Romney’s fundraiser remarks and the seven minute news conference held yesterday. (Mother Jones + Associated Press)

Mother Jones video: