In a hastily called press conference Monday night, Mitt Romney dismissed the viral video that shows him telling attendees at a closed-door fundraiser that 47 percent of Americans are dependent on government checks and “believe that they are victims” and therefore will vote for President Obama.
Romney took only three questions at the presser, and dismissed the remarks as “off the cuff” and “not elegantly stated.” He also claimed the video spreading across the internet didn’t quote him in full context.
“I’m sure I can state it more clearly in a more effective way than I did in a setting like that and so I’m sure I’ll point that out as time goes on but we don’t even have the question given the snippet there, nor the full response, and I hope the person who has the video would put out the full material,” Romney said at the press conference held in Orange County, Calif.
Romney stuck by the underlying message he made at the fundraiser, a much more harsh riff on his standard campaign line that Obama wants to create a society where Americans are dependent on government while he wants to create a society based on “free enterprise.”
MORE: Romney Dismisses Hidden Camera Footage As ‘Off The Cuff’ | TPM2012.