DAMAGE CONTROL

Romney Stands By ‘47 Percent’ Remark

Says comments were ‘not elegantly stated.’

Mitt Romney’s leaked comments, recorded by a hidden camera at a closed-door fundraiser, that 47 percent of Americans “believe that they are victims” and prefer President Obama because his politics are “attractive to people who are not paying taxes” quickly lit up the blogosphere Monday—so quickly, in fact, that Romney held an impromptu press conference at 10:30 p.m. that night to address them. In his brief remarks, he doesn’t disavow the argument, instead saying it was “not elegantly stated” and “spoken off the cuff.” He also said that comments were in line with his campaign strategy to “focus on the people in the middle.”