Via Mother Jones:
There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.
[snip]
[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.Wow! Just wow.
It's pretty much every negative right wing cliche about Obama voters and we common folk that you hear on FOX. And, pretty much everything you thought Mitt Romney really thought about the 99% -- the stuff that would sometimes slip out in his gaffes.
Like me, you may have already seen some of the video from this event making its way round the internet, but it hadn't been verified. Apparently, David Corn was able to vet it. There's much, much more at Mother Jones (and they promise more still).
Here's the Obama Campaign's reaction (via email):
STATEMENT ON ROMNEY’S BEHIND CLOSED DOORS REMARKS
CHICAGO – “It's shocking that a candidate for President of the United States would go behind closed doors and declare to a group of wealthy donors that half the American people view themselves as ‘victims,’ entitled to handouts, and are unwilling to take ‘personal responsibility’ for their lives. It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation.”– Jim Messina, Obama for America Campaign Manager
