Romney: I Was 'Just Completely Wrong' On 47 Percent

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's much-discussed remarks about the 47 percent of Americans who "will vote for the president no matter what ... believe that they are victims ... [and] pay no income tax" did not come up in Wednesday night's debate with President Obama.

Thursday night, Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity asked Romney what he would have said if Obama had brought up the controversial comments.

Here is Romney's response:

"Well, clearly in a campaign, with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and question-and-answer sessions, now and then you're going to say something that doesn't come out right. In this case, I said something that's just completely wrong.

"And I absolutely believe, however, that my life has shown that I care about 100 percent and that's been demonstrated throughout my life. And this whole campaign is about the 100 percent. When I become president, it will be about helping the 100 percent."

Fox has posted video from the interview here. The discussion of the 47 percent comments comes at the 7-minute mark.

The video of Romney talking to supporters about the 47 percent is here, on the website of the liberal news outlet Mother Jones (which broke the news about Romney's comments).

For ongoing coverage of the 2012 campaign, check It's All Politics.

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.