Prominent Republicans have joined Barack Obama in condemning Mitt Romney over leaked comments portraying the US president’s supporters as dependent on government, further draining momentum from the challenger’s faltering campaign.
Mr Obama excoriated Mr Romney’s comments that said the president could count on the support of 47 per cent of Americans who are “dependent on government”, don’t pay tax and “believe they are victims”. The comments have been viewed more than 2m times online since the secretly filmed video was posted on Monday.
“We can’t afford a president who says ‘my job is not to worry about’ 47 per cent of the American people,” Mr Obama said in a tweet.