We’ve heard from his own mouth that Mitt Romney thinks of “47 percent” of Americans as takers dependent on government.
Before introducing President Obama at a campaign rally in Virginia on Thursday, Virginia Senator Jim Webb, a former Marine who served in Vietnam, called out the Republican presidential candidate over those harsh comments and reminded him of what the so-called “47 percent” has done for the country, which includes members of the military:
“Those young Marines that I led so many years ago have grown older now. They’ve lived lives of courage, both in combat and after their return, where many of them were derided by their own peers for having served. That was a long time ago. They are not bitter. They know what they did. But in receiving veterans’ benefits, they are not takers. They are givers, in the ultimate sense of that word. There is a saying among war veterans: ‘All gave some, some gave all.’ That’s not a culture of dependency. It’s a part of a long tradition that gave this country its freedom and independence. They paid, some with their lives, some through wounds and disabilities, some through their emotional scars, some through lost opportunities and delayed entry into civilian careers which had already begun for many of their peers who did not serve. And not only did they pay. They will not say this, I will say it for them. They are owed. They are owed. If nothing else, at least a mention, some word of thanks and respect, when a presidential candidate who is their generational peer makes a speech accepting his party’s nomination to be commander in chief. And they are owed much more than that — a guarantee that we will never betray the commitment that we made to them and to their loved ones.”
In a secretly recorded video of Romney speaking at a private fundraiser, the Republican candidate claimed “47 percent” of American voters are “dependent upon government” and his “job is not to worry about those people.”
The latest poll numbers out this week confirmed this incident has significantly dragged Romney’s candidacy down.
Sarah Muller