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February 2, 2012

Romney: "I'm Not Concerned About the Very Poor" 
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Republican front-runner Mitt Romney is on the defensive over comments in
which he said he is not concerned with the poorest Americans. Romney
made the claim during an interview with CNN. When pressed on his
statement, Romney tried to backtrack, while saying he is equally
unconcerned with the plight of the very wealthy.

Mitt Romney: "I'm in this race because I care about Americans. I'm not
concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs
repair, I'll fix it."

Soledad O'Brien: "You just said I'm not concerned about the very poor
because they have a safety net. And I think there are lots of very poor
Americans who are struggling who would say that sounds odd. Can you
explain that?"

Mitt Romney: "Well, you had to finish the sentence, Soledad. I said I'm
not concerned about the very poor that have the safety net, but if it
has holes in it, I will repair them.
The — the challenge right now — we will hear from the
Democrat Party the plight of the poor, and–and there's no
question, it's not good being poor and we have a safety net to help
those that are very poor. But my campaign is focused on middle-income
Americans."



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