If I were a fanatic I'd let off nuclear bomb in Chicago': Romney brands Iran 'crazy people' in new secretly filmed outburst

Mitt Romney’s White House bid was in disarray last night after he appeared to suggest a pro-Iranian terrorist could hold America to ransom by threatening to blow up Chicago with a nuclear bomb.
In one of the most bizarre remarks ever made by a presidential candidate, the Republican challenger outlined how he might carry out an attack – comments critics claimed exposed America’s weaknesses.
They were revealed just hours after videotapes of Mr Romney showed him making a series of derogatory remarks about Americans, Palestinians, Mexicans and the Chinese.
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Caught on tape: Mitt Romney shares his laissez-faire approach to solving the 'Palestinian Problem' at a dinner for wealthy donors in Boca Raton, Florida

 

‘If I were Iran – a crazed fanatic, I’d  say let’s get a little fissile material to Hezbollah, have them carry it to Chicago, and then if anything goes wrong, or America starts acting up, we’ll just say, “Guess what? Unless you stand down, why, we’re going to let off a dirty bomb. 
‘I mean this is where we have – where America could be held up and blackmailed by Iran, by the mullahs, by crazy people. So we don’t have any option but to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon.’

 

In another secretly filmed video clip, Mr Romney claimed there was no point trying to appeal to Democratic voters because they were ‘freeloaders who don’t pay taxes’.
‘There are 47 per cent who are with Barack Obama, who are dependent upon government, who believe they are victims,’ he said.
‘These are people who pay no income tax.  My job is not to worry about those people.’

 

 

In another video, he fires a  broadside at the Palestinians,  saying: ‘I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, committed to the destruction of Israel, and I say there’s just no way [there will be peace].’
And he can be heard joking he would have an easier time winning the US election in November if his father had Mexican parents, instead of being a state governor and wealthy car company boss.
In the same video, Mr Romney also tells how he considered investing in a sweatshop-like factory in China when he was head of US private equity giant Bain Capital.

Damage control: Romney responded quickly to the Mother Jones secret tape saying his remarks were not 'elegantly stated'

The businessman – who recently criticised Mr Obama for ‘spending 43 months failing to confront China’s unfair trade practices’ was given a tour of the factory in the 1990s, where 20,000 women earned tiny wages and lived in squalid conditions. 
He said: ‘As we were walking through this facility, seeing them work, the number of hours they worked the pittance they earned.
‘And around this factory was a fence, a huge fence with barbed wire and guard towers. And we said gosh, I can’t believe that you, you know, keep these girls in.
‘And they said, no, no, no. This is to keep other people from coming in. Because people want so badly to work in this factory that we have to keep them out’. US news channel CNN said sources revealed Bain did not invest in the firm or buy it.
The videos, which were all taped during a $30,000-a-plate dinner for wealthy donors in Florida, surfaced as the presidential campaign enters its final 50 days.
Snippets were placed online in YouTube films by Mother Jones, a liberal magazine, which said it obtained them from a guest at the dinner hosted by millionaire US financier Marc Leder on May 17.
The footage was unearthed with the help of former Democrat president Jimmy Carter’s grandson, James, who is credited with ‘research assistance’ on its website.

 

Mission: Jimmy Carter's grandson James says he had been researching films on Republicans 'almost every day' and that he did it 'just for fun'

Last night, Jim Messina, Mr Obama’s campaign manager, said: ‘It’s shocking that a candidate for President would go behind closed doors and declare to a group of wealthy donors that half the  American people view themselves as ‘victims’ entitled to handouts, and are unwilling to take 'personal responsibility' for their lives.
‘It’s hard to serve as a president when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation.’
Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian lawmaker and scholar, said Mr Romney’s remarks were ‘irresponsible and dangerous’.
However, the politician said he stood by the remarks which were ‘not elegantly stated’.