Romney to welfare mothers: 'You need to go to work'

Republicans have spent the last week attacking President Barack Obama after a Democratic CNN contributor said that Ann Romney, who is the mother of five, had "never worked," but it turns out that presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has also said mothers on welfare "need to go to work."

"I wanted to increase the work requirement," Romney told an audience in New Hampshire in January. "I said, for instance, that even if you have a child 2 years of age, you need to go to work."

"And people said, ‘Well that’s heartless.’ And I said, ‘No, no, I’m willing to spend more giving day care to allow those parents to go back to work. It’ll cost the state more providing that day care, but I want the individuals to have the dignity of work.'"

Last week, CNN contributor Hilary Rosen charged that the candidate's wife had “actually never worked a day in her life.”

“She’s never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing,” Rosen added.

Ann Romney responded by saying that her "career choice was to be a mother."

"And I think that all of us need to know that we need to respect choices that women make," she explained.

"Look, I know what it’s like to struggle,” Ann Romney continued, possibly referring to her battle with multiple sclerosis. “And if maybe I haven’t struggled as much financially as some people have, I can tell you and promise you that I’ve had struggles in my life. And I would love to have people understand that Mitt and I have compassion for people that are struggling and that’s why we’re running. We care about those people that are struggling."

Watch to the video below from MSNBC's Up with Chris Hayes, broadcast on April 15, 2012.

(H/T: Think Progress)