(Video from Mother Jones)
Romney accepts GOP nomination at RNC
WASHINGTON -- Republican Mitt Romney is trying to head off a new distraction for his campaign after a video surfaced showing him telling wealthy donors that 47 percent of all Americans "believe they are victims" entitled to help from the government.
Romney offered no apologies at a news conference Monday but conceded the comments were not "elegantly stated" and spoken "off the cuff."
The Republican presidential nominee says the remarks showed a contrast between President Barack Obama's "government-centered society" and his belief in a "free-market approach."
In the latest clip, Romney is asked about the "Palestinian problem." He gives a rambling response, then says "the Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace," and "the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish."
The remarks are contained in a video clip posted Tuesday on the website of the magazine Mother Jones. The editors say the video is from a $50,000-a-plate fundraiser in Boca Raton, Fla., on May 17.
The video comes as Romney advisers try to reassure party leaders and donors about the Republican's ability to win the White House.
Obama's campaign is pouncing on the video and using it to encourage supporters to donate money to the president's re-election effort.
White House spokesman Jay Carney says the president of the United States is the president of all the people, not just those who voted for him. Carney was responding to Republican Mitt Romney's comments at a private fundraiser that the 47 percent of people who will vote for Obama "believe that they are victims." Carney said Obama "deeply believes that we're in this together."
Carney says he didn't know if the president has seen the video of Romney's remarks. Meanwhile, Obama's re-election campaign released a web video Tuesday that asks voters to watch Romney's comments and respond.
(Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.)
