Romney, ‘Not Concerned About the Very Poor’
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Joe Raedle/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — GOP front-runner Mitt Romney said Wednesday morning he’s not concerned about the plight of the country’s very poor because there are social safety nets that take care of them.
“I’m in this race because I care about Americans,” Romney told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien after his victory in Tuesday’s Florida primary. “I’m not concerned about 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,” he added. “I’m concerned about the very heart of the America, the 90, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling and I’ll continue to take that message across the nation.”
The CNN anchor then pressed Romney, saying, “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?”
“Well, you had to finish the sentence, Soledad,” said Romney. “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.”
“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. My focus is on middle income Americans, retirees living on social security, people who cannot find work, folks who have kids that are getting ready to go to college,” he went on to say. “That — these are the people who’ve been most badly hurt during the Obama years.”
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