On Monday night, Mitt Romney held a late night news conference where he took three questions from pool reporters regarding the release of a secretly recorded video. The footage, taped with a hidden camera during a private fund-raiser in May shows the candidate arguing that nearly half of Americans will vote for President Barack Obama because they rely on government support. Romney also made apparent jokes about wishing he had Latino heritage, and talks about a Chinese factory his former firm purchased.
CNN Political Director Mark Preston says "certainly in the 24-hour news cycle [Romney's comments] are devastating right now." Preston adds that the Romney campaign is very concerned because they put "their candidate out last night to try to address it and it was a very tortured explanation."
In his press conference Monday night, the GOP nominee said his statements caught on tape were "off the cuff" and could have been "more clearly" stated, adding that he was trying to point out the differences between the two campaigns.
Preston says, "This is not something the Romney campaign wants to deal with, with only 49 days before Election Day."
The video which was originally released on left-leaning news websites: The Huffington Post was altered dramatically to mask the location and date of the fund-raiser. The person who is responsible for the video has requested to remain anonymous according to the Huffington Post for "professional reasons and to avoid a lawsuit." However, author of the Mother Jones article, David Corn, said the event took place May 17 in Boca Raton, Florida, at the home of Sun Capital executive Marc Leder.
CNN's Mark Preston further explains the potential damage the newly leaked video may cause the Romney campaign as Election Day nears.