You know Mitt Romney’s said something truly outrageous when even the host of CNN’s usually somnolent American Morning calls him out on it:
ROMNEY: I’m not concerned with the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of the America. [..]
HOST: You just said said, ‘I’m not concerned about the very poor because they have a safety net.’ But I think there are a lot of very poor Americans who are struggling who would say, that sounds odd. […]
ROMNEY: The challenge right now – we will hear from the Democrat [sic] party the plight of the poor. 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 campaign is focused is on middle-income Americans. My campaign – you can choose where to focus. You can focus on the rich, that’s not my focus. You can focus on the very poor, that’s not my focus.
So there you have it. If you’re concerned about the 9% of Americans who are unemployed, if you’re concerned about seniors who have to put off grocery shopping until the next Social Security check arrives, if you’re concerned about growing income inequality, if you’re concerned about families drowning in high medical bills or an underwater mortgage, vote Democratic this fall. That’s not me talking – that’s the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. Meanwhile, if you support an economic plan to help the 1% at the expense of the rest of us, vote Mitt Romney.
After the jump, video of Romney meeting with senior advisers to develop his strategy for the “very poor”:
