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 \u201cbelieve that they are victims\u201d and therefore will vote for President Obama.<\/p>\n
Romney took only three questions at the presser, and dismissed the remarks as \u201coff the cuff\u201d and \u201cnot elegantly stated.\u201d He also claimed the video spreading across the internet didn\u2019t quote him in full context.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure I can state it more clearly in a more effective way than I did in a setting like that and so I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll point that out as time goes on but we don\u2019t 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,\u201d Romney said at the press conference held in Orange County, Calif.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cfree enterprise.\u201d
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