[QUOTE](CNN) - Mitt Romney said he was "completely wrong" when he argued that nearly half of Americans were "victims" and dependent on government.
The admission came Thursday as the GOP presidential candidate sought to clarify his controversial "47%" comments.
[B]"Clearly in a campaign with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and question-and-answer sessions, now and then you're going to say something that doesn't come out right," Romney said on Fox News. "In this case, I said something that's just completely wrong."
Last month, secretly recorded video of Romney at a May fundraiser showed the Republican candidate saying 47% of Americans will vote for President Barack Obama "no matter what."[/B]
"There are 47% who are with him, who are dependent on government, who believe that, that they are victims, who believe that government has the responsibility to care for them. Who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing."
The non-partisan Tax Policy Center estimates that for tax year 2011, 46% of households will end up owing nothing in federal income taxes. But if payroll taxes are counted, the number of non-payer households drops precipitously - to an estimated 18% in 2011.
Adding to his argument about entitlement, Romney said his "job is not to worry about those people."
"I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives," he added.
"What I have to do is convince the 5 percent to 10 percent in the center that are independents, that are thoughtful."
After the videos, which were posted on the progressive news website Mother Jones, caught fire, Romney called a last-minute press conference with pool reporters while he was in California at the time.
[B]The former Massachusetts governor acknowledged the comments were "off the cuff" and "not elegantly stated," but he defended the main point of the message, saying he was criticizing the increasing size of government and entitlement programs.
"We have a very different approach – the president and I – between a government-dominated society and a society driven by free people pursuing their dreams," Romney said.[/B]
The following day, Romney still stuck by his comments and elaborated on the logistical reasoning behind his remarks.
With Ryan by his side, Romney rallies Virginians in debate victory lap
"We were of course talking about a campaign and how he is going to get close to half the vote," Romney said. "I'm going to get half the vote, I hope, I want to get 50.1% or more. Frankly we have two very different views about America."
In the first presidential debate Wednesday, Obama surprised political observers by not going after Romney on the comments, as he has on the campaign trail in the last two weeks.
On Fox News Thursday night, Romney was asked what he would have said if the president had brought up the controversial statements–which is when the GOP nominee went as far as to say he was "wrong."
He then argued that, if elected, he would represent all Americans, not just half.
"I absolutely believe, however, that my life has shown that I care about 100% and that's been demonstrated throughout my life. And this whole campaign is about the 100%. When I become president, it will be helping the 100%."[/QUOTE]
Source: [url]http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/04/romney-on-47-comments-i-was-completely-wrong/?hpt=hp_t2[/url]
Will FP forgive him with this statement? Probably not :v:
Nope
Pandering -- I'll believe it when he starts acting like he means it.
Heh, acting like he means it... That'll be the day; after all he's a Republican politician, and I have no trust or sympathy for such creatures.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;37947758]Will FP forgive him with this statement? Probably not :v:[/QUOTE]
Nope, because he panders to peoples extreme views.
Talks at a poor people convention, "Damn them rich people taking all your money."
Talks at a rich people convention, "Damn them poor people why don't they get 4 jobs."
Talks at a Republican convention, "The left worship the devil and expect you to marry your own sex even if you don't want to."
Lol your life has shown that you care about the 100%. Say that about all the companies you liquidated and took the worker's pensions, or when you formed a gang to hold down that gay teen to have his head and insult him.
"I was completely wrong" understatement of the fucking year.
at least he admits he was wrong. but of course facepunch will ignore that fact with their blatant bias.
Vote for the family.
'That really long sentence which required a lot of my thought to construct carefully, that I reinforced multiple times, it just slipped out!'
- Romney :v:
[img]http://snag.gy/G6nUF.jpg[/img]
I love the political term flip-flop.
I mean, we know politicians are usually full of shit and say things for the sake of, but the raw implications behind "flip-flopping" are literally: [B]How dare he/she change his/her mind or apologize for saying something erroneous!
[/B]Quick note: I say raw, not as 'in politics'. Yes, I know, in politics it's because they're switching around to appeal. No shit. I just think the word flip-flop is a terrible one for that, because it implies a simple change of stance instead of pandering. :v:
It's kind of impossible to retract something like this, when it's a secret video of you talking in private. No matter what you say in public everyone will just think you're lying
[QUOTE=redBadger;37947853]at least he admits he was wrong. but of course facepunch will ignore that fact with their blatant bias.[/QUOTE]
its almost like using a racial slur against somebody then a week later saying "sorry my bad, I'm not actually racist. sometimes the word nigger just kind of slips out".
Just the fact that he would say something so monumentally stupid says a lot about him.
[QUOTE=redBadger;37947853]at least he admits he was wrong. but of course facepunch will ignore that fact with their blatant bias.[/QUOTE]
Youre telling me he is seriously apologizing? The man flip flops more than any president i have ever seen. He has been caught multiple times playing both sides, so how will i take him seriously now?
[QUOTE=Pepsi-cola;37947809]Nope, because he panders to peoples extreme views.
Talks at a poor people convention, "Damn them rich people taking all your money."
Talks at a rich people convention, "Damn them poor people why don't they get 4 jobs."
Talks at a Republican convention, "The left worship the devil and expect you to marry your own sex even if you don't want to."[/QUOTE]
That's actually what you're supposed to do in a Primary, although it's kind of odd in a Presidential election.
He later in the interview negates the "I was wrong" with "I was kinda right"
What an asshole
I think it's safe to say he wouldn't have apologized for it if the video hadn't been released. He's just trying to save face.
It's not so much that he's flip flopping this time, it's the fact that you can tell he was being completely sincere in the video that was leaked, and any attempt to say it was a mistake, or "off the cuff" really won't convince anybody.
[QUOTE=Doom14;37947881]I love the political term flip-flop.
I mean, we know politicians are usually full of shit and say things for the sake of, but the raw implications behind "flip-flopping" are literally: [B]How dare he/she change his/her mind or apologize for saying something erroneous![/B][/QUOTE]
Flip-flop generally implies that the person making a claim is making the claim to appeal to a specific audience and then steps back from that claim when addressing another audience. It's like trying to appeal to people on opposite sides of an argument. In this case, Romney was addressing the people at a private dinner and his statement appealed to them. Now he is "flip-fopping" to try to appeal to all the people he essentially insulted.
[editline]13:15[/editline]
Being a disingenuous ass 101
[QUOTE=redBadger;37947853]at least he admits he was wrong. but of course facepunch will ignore that fact with their blatant bias.[/QUOTE]
The only reason he's apologizing is because he realizes that he's in deep shit. Those obama ads are [i]working.[/i]
[QUOTE=Fort83;37947983]Even the homosexuals and atheists mitt?[/QUOTE]
obviously they aren't true americans, so no.
[QUOTE]"We have a very different approach – the president and I – between a government-dominated society and a society driven by free people pursuing their dreams," Romney said.[/QUOTE]
man whatever you can stuff it
[QUOTE=kidwithsword;37947971] Now he is "flip-fopping" to try to appeal to all the people he essentially insulted.
[editline]13:15[/editline]
Being a disingenuous ass 101[/QUOTE]
Which is hilarious because I'm sure more than 47% of people found it insulting.
[QUOTE=redBadger;37947853]at least he admits he was wrong. but of course facepunch will ignore that fact with their blatant bias.[/QUOTE]
Excuse us while we don't just fall over ourselves to forgive romney.
I liked the Onion headline on this story: "Romney Still In Hot Water After Reading GOP Platform Verbatim"
[QUOTE=Doom14;37947881]I love the political term flip-flop.
I mean, we know politicians are usually full of shit and say things for the sake of, but the raw implications behind "flip-flopping" are literally: [B]How dare he/she change his/her mind or apologize for saying something erroneous![/B][/QUOTE]
If he can't stand by his comments during the race, what's to say he'll stand by the ideals that people vote him in for?
Honestly, we're talking about candidates for the office of the most powerful elected official of the free world. I really don't think we're scrutinizing these guys enough.
[QUOTE=Doom14;37947881]I love the political term flip-flop.
I mean, we know politicians are usually full of shit and say things for the sake of, but the raw implications behind "flip-flopping" are literally: [b]How dare he/she change his/her mind or apologize for saying something erroneous![/b][/QUOTE]
Uh when someone doubles down on a stupid comment for literally weeks at every opportunity then says he was wrong and half-apologizes I'm allowed to call that a flip flop.
[editline]7th October 2012[/editline]
Also I love how the liberal leftist bastion of Democratic bias Facepunch wants to give a Republican known for outright lying about his positions the benefit of the doubt every time he does or says something stupid then apologizes.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.