WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney moved quickly to steady his campaign after taking fire over his comments in a leaked video where he referred to nearly half the nation as “victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them,” explaining yesterday that he simply won’t get votes from people who favor “redistribution” of wealth.
“I was talking about the fact that I’m not expecting to get 60 percent or 70 percent of the vote,” Romney told Fox News in an interview on a day when the controversy got saturation coverage on TV news shows.
“I understand some portion will be the president’s. Some portion will be mine. I’ve got to get as many as I can from every single cohort in this country,” he said of voters willing to back him in November.
Asked if he was referring to the 47 percent of Americans who don’t pay income tax — including many retirees and veterans — as moochers, Romney responded: “No, I’m talking about a perspective of individuals who I’m not likely to get to support me. Those that are dependent upon government and those who think the government’s job is to redistribute — I’m not going to get them.”
Romney’s TV appearance had a more focused pushback at President Obama than did his hastily called news conference Monday night, where he granted that his own comments in the video from a May fund-raiser were “not elegantly stated,” but also didn’t back down.
Romney’s reference to “redistribution” of wealth came after a 1998 audio tape of Obama speaking at a college conference surfaced on YouTube yesterday, in which he said, “I actually believe in redistribution.”
The video of Romney was surreptitiously taken at a $50,000-a- plate fund-raiser hosted by private equity honcho Marc Leder at his home in Boca Raton, Fla.
“All right, there are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what,” Romney said over clinking silverware in the video. “All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.”
“These are people who pay no income tax,” he continued. “My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
The White House seized on the story yesterday.
“The president certainly doesn’t think that men and women on Social Security are irresponsible or victims — that students are irresponsible or victims,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
Some Republicans running for election in Democratic strongholds were quick to disavow Romney’s remarks.
Connecticut Republican Senate candidate and former wrestling exec Linda McMahon body-slammed Romney, saying, “I know that the vast majority of those who rely on government are not in that situation because they want to be.”
But Romney also got backing from some several prominent conservatives urging him to stick to his guns, including Donald Trump, who said Romney “cannot apologize.”
Motherjones.com: Full Secret Video of Private Romney Fundraiser