Romney’s slur on welfare voters a boost for Obama

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was desperately trying to steady a shaky campaign as US President Barack Obama, enjoying a burst of momentum, headed to New York for a celebrity fundraiser with Beyoncé and Jay-Z, along with a star turn on David Letterman’s couch.

Romney was trying to contain the political fallout of an unauthorised video of him telling donors that supporters of Obama — almost half of the US population — are people who live off government handouts and do not “care for their lives”.

Those people, he went on, “believe they are victims” entitled to extensive government support, before adding that, as a candidate for the White House, “my job is not to worry about those people”.