Romney: Obama trying to ‘bribe the voters’ with benefits

• Tweet
• 
• 

• Tweet

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Saturday accused President Barack Obama of trying to “bribe the voters” with benefits and “checks from government.”

During his victory speech following the Nevada caucuses, the candidate told a crowd of supporters that voters shouldn’t expect a “free ticket” when he is president.

“I will not attempt to bribe the voters with promises of new programs and new subsidies and ever-increasing checks from government,” Romney declared. “If this election is a bidding war for who can promise the most benefits then I’m not your president. You have that president today.”

“I’m asking each of you to remember how special it is to be an American. I want you to remember why it was that you or your ancestors, who sacrificed to come to America and to overcome the challenges of life in a new country, why they came here. It was not for a free ticket; it was for freedom.”

Last week, the former Massachusetts governor claimed he had misspoken when he said that he was “not concerned about the very poor.”

“We have a safety net there,” he had told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien. “If it needs repair, I’ll fix it.”

Watch this video from ABC News, broadcast Feb. 4, 2012.