By now we've all seen the secret video footage of Mitt Romney's controversial statements at a fundraiser earlier this year, in which he discusses the "47 percent" of Americans "who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them." The comments did little to help Romney combat criticism that he is out of touch with struggling Americans. His father, George Romney, also had to convince voters that he could identify with people's problems in spite of his considerable wealth.
Buzzfeed found the above video of Romney's late mother Lenore giving an impassioned endorsement of her husband, George, during his 1962 run for governor of Michigan.
"There are those who say that since he's a man of considerable means, he really doesn't care about people," the interviewer asks.
"You know, we've only owned our home for the last few years. He was a refugee from Mexico. He was on welfare relief for the first years of his life," Lenore Romney responds.
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"But this great country gave him opportunities. His family were poor...he said they lived for a year on nothing but potatoes," she adds.
Born to American parents in Mexico, George Romney's family fled the Mexican revolution for the United States in 1912. American refugees like the Romneys received government assistance in the form of a Congressional refugee fund.
Jon Stewart played Lenore's interview on the "Daily Show" Tuesday night (at the 4:40 mark), saying it appeared that "Mitt Romney could not win the vote of his dad."
[Buzzfeed via the University of Michigan]
