Courtesy Cresent Hardy for Congress
A GOP House candidate in Nevada has been caught on tape telling a crowd at a fundraiser that Mitt Romney was right to say that 47 percent of the country mooch off the government. Cresent Hardy, the Republican candidate for Nevada’s 4th district, added that since 2012, when Romney made his remarks, the “47 percent” has only grown.
“Can I say that without getting in trouble, like Governor Romney?” Hardy said, at a fundraiser held last Thursday at the Falcon Ridge Golf Club. “The 47 percent is true. It’s bigger now.”
Hardy’s remarks refer to the leaked video of Mitt Romney telling donors, behind closed doors, that 47 percent of the country are people “who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.” The video was released by Mother Jones.
At last week’s fundraiser, Hardy reportedly blamed the country’s troubles on women, minorities, and young voters, since those groups voted for the president in large numbers. Jon Ralston, a top Nevada political commentator, reported Hardy’s comments on his show last night.
This is not the first time Hardy has disparaged voters on the campaign trail. A video posted by the Nevada Democratic Party in February shows Hardy claiming that people in “welfare districts” drive Escalades—a callback to the “welfare queens” trope of the 1980s.
