President Barack Obama Responds To Mitt Romney's '47 Percent' Comment

by UInterviewSeptember 17, 2012, 12:00 amNews >

President Barack Obama, 51, had a busy night on Tuesday, but he was all smiles when he visited CBS's Late Show with David Letterman as a guest for the second time since he took office in 2009. The topic of the hour, of course, focused on comments recently released online by Mother Jones of Mitt Romney speaking openly at a private fundraiser earlier this year, where the presidential hopeful addressed a group of his peers, unaware he was being recorded.

The sound bites from the videos depict Romney saying, "There are 47 percent of the people who … are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name it," Romney also calls these 47 percent "people who pay no income tax" and implies that he will write off in the presidential election. He later admits to being "born with a silver spoon, which is the greatest gift you can have: which is to get born in America." If his parents were Mexican, he maintains, he would "have a better shot of winning this."

Obama disagreed with Romney's sentiments when he chatted with Letterman. "There are not a lot of people out there who think they're victims," he said. "There are not a lot of people who think they're entitled to something."

But that doesn't mean that the president wants to forget about even those Americans who do — it's a package deal, he reasons. "One of the things I learned as president is you represent the entire country. If you want to be president, you have to work for everyone."

After laying out his thoughts, Obama jetted right over to Beyonce and Jay-Z's $40K per-head fundraiser at the New York's 40/40 Club, where about 100 people were present to celebrate the evening, reports E! Online. Beyonce introduced the president, after which he took the chance to have some fun with his host. "We both have daughters and our wives are more popular than we are. So, you know, we've got a little bond there. It's hard but it's okay."

Watch the Obama interview with David Letterman here: