Mitt Romney's efforts to relaunch his presidential campaign were overshadowed on Monday after video emerged showing him appear to dismiss nearly half the country as government dependents who "believe that they are victims".
11:08PM BST 17 Sep 2012
The Republican told a group of donors that the 47 per cent of Americans who do
who do not pay income tax would automatically support President Barack
Obama because they "believe that they are entitled to health
care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it".
"My job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them
they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives," Mr
Romney says in the video, which was filmed surreptitiously and leaked to Mother
Jones magazine.
The footage, shot by an unknown film maker, is potentially explosive for the multimillionaire former private equity executive who is often caricatured by Democrats as a wealthy man out of touch with the hardships of everyday Americans.
It reportedly shows Mr Romney addressing wealthy donors earlier this year and speaking candidly about his strategy of focusing on the small sliver of the population that remains undecided ahead of November's election and not attempting to win over low income voters.
"There are 47 percent who are with [Mr Obama], 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," Mr Romney said. "And they will vote for this president no matter what."
The Obama campaign immediately seized on the footage Jim Messina, the President's campaign manager, said: "It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation".
In the footage, Mr Romney also cautions against harshly criticising the President because it could alienate voters who supported him in 2008 and continue to like him personally, even if they disapprove of his handling of the economy.
"When you say to them, 'Do you think Barack Obama is a failure?' they overwhelmingly say no. They like him. But when you say, 'Are you disappointed that his policies haven't worked?' they say yes. And because they voted for him, they don't want to be told that they were wrong, that he's a bad guy, that he did bad things, that he's corrupt."
Mr Romney also jokes about his father, George Romney, who was born in Mexico to American parents, suggesting that there would be an electoral advantage if he were of Hispanic descent.
"He was unfortunately born to Americans living in Mexico. He lived there for a number of years. I mean, I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be Latino," he said.
The footage, shot by an unknown film maker, is potentially explosive for the multimillionaire former private equity executive who is often caricatured by Democrats as a wealthy man out of touch with the hardships of everyday Americans.
It reportedly shows Mr Romney addressing wealthy donors earlier this year and speaking candidly about his strategy of focusing on the small sliver of the population that remains undecided ahead of November's election and not attempting to win over low income voters.
"There are 47 percent who are with [Mr Obama], 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," Mr Romney said. "And they will vote for this president no matter what."
The Obama campaign immediately seized on the footage Jim Messina, the President's campaign manager, said: "It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation".
In the footage, Mr Romney also cautions against harshly criticising the President because it could alienate voters who supported him in 2008 and continue to like him personally, even if they disapprove of his handling of the economy.
"When you say to them, 'Do you think Barack Obama is a failure?' they overwhelmingly say no. They like him. But when you say, 'Are you disappointed that his policies haven't worked?' they say yes. And because they voted for him, they don't want to be told that they were wrong, that he's a bad guy, that he did bad things, that he's corrupt."
Mr Romney also jokes about his father, George Romney, who was born in Mexico to American parents, suggesting that there would be an electoral advantage if he were of Hispanic descent.
"He was unfortunately born to Americans living in Mexico. He lived there for a number of years. I mean, I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be Latino," he said.
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