Battered Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney sought to remove himself from the crosshairs of critics on Tuesday by offering up a 14-year-old video of President Barack Obama that showed him talking about the “redistribution” of wealth in America.
Romney had come under withering fire from both liberal and conservative pundits alike following the release of a secret video that showed him disparaging Obama supporters as “dependent on government” and “believe that they are victims.”
Romney, speaking on Fox News, did not back down from his controversial statements made before a room full of wealthy donors during a May 17 fundraiser in Boca Raton, Florida. The video also showed him saying that the 47 percent of Americans who don’t pay income taxes are going to vote for the president anyway, so he didn’t need to worry about them.
“We were of course talking about a campaign and how he’s going to get close to half the vote, I’m going to get half the vote, approximately, I hope,” Romney told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto. “I want to get 50.1 percent or more. Frankly we have two very different views about America. The president’s view is one of larger government, there’s a tape that came out today where the president’s saying he likes redistribution. I disagree.”
Romney acknowledged that many of the “47 percent” he criticized for not paying income taxes are retirees and members of the military, adding, “and that’s as it should be.”
Romney referenced “a tape that just came out today where the President is saying he likes redistribution.”
“I disagree,” he continued. “I think a society based upon a government-centered nation where government plays a larger and larger role, redistributes money, that’s the wrong course for America. That will not build a strong America or help people out of poverty.”
Romney was referring to a video being featured on The Drudge Report and now being pushed aggressively by Republicans.
It shows Obama speaking at Loyola
University in 1998. In the video, the president is heard saying that it’s important to “somehow resuscitate the notion that government action can be effective at all.”
“There has been a systematic – I don’t think it’s too strong to call it a propaganda campaign – against the possibility of government action and its efficacy,” he says. “And I think some of it has been deserved. Chicago Housing Authority has not been a model of good policy-making and neither necessarily have been the Chicago Public Schools. What that means then is that as we try to resuscitate this notion that we’re all in this thing together, leave nobody behind, we do have to be innovative in thinking how – what are the delivery systems that are actually effective and meet people where they live.”
He continues: “And my suggestion I guess would be that the trick – and this is one of the few areas where I think there are technical issues that have to be dealt with as opposed to just political issues – I think the trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution – because I actually believe in some redistribution, at least at a certain level to make sure that everybody’s got a shot.”
Romney said the comments illustrate the difference between the two candidates.
“I believe the right course for America is one where government steps in to help those that are in need,” he said. “We’re a compassionate people, but then we let people build their own lives, create enterprises. We believe in free people and free enterprise, not redistribution. The right course for America is to create growth, create wealth, not to redistribute wealth.”
