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DES MOINES, Iowa — Mitt Romney, who likes to promote his years in the private sector when out on the stump, offered a glimpse into his own business perspective at the Iowa State Fair on Thursday, telling a group of hecklers, “Corporations are people, my friend.”

In Iowa Reporting on candidates and voters from the Hawkeye State.

Mr. Romney was speaking at the fair’s soapbox Thursday morning, but when it was time for the question-and-answer session, the mood turned heated, with a small group of angry hecklers calling on Mr. Romney to support raising taxes on the wealthy to help fund social entitlement programs. (The exchange begins at around the 2:30 mark in this C-SPAN video.)

“We have to make sure that the promises we make in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are promises we can keep, and there are various ways of doing that,” Mr. Romney said. “One is we can raise taxes on people.”

“Corporations!” the protesters shouted, suggesting that Mr. Romney, as president, should raise taxes on large businesses. “Corporations!”

“Corporations are people, my friend,” Mr. Romney responded, as the hecklers shouted back, “No they’re not!”

“Of course they are,” Mr. Romney said, chuckling slightly. “Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people. Where do you think it goes?”

When someone in the front row angrily suggested that “it goes in their pockets,” Mr. Romney, becoming increasingly animated, asked: “Whose pockets? People’s pockets!”

Thursday was Mr. Romney’s fieriest day on the campaign trail this week, even before the hecklers, who were affiliated with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, an organizing group, drew him into several aggressive exchanges. Wearing a navy blue shirt and brown jeans, Mr. Romney took the stage with sweat already glistening on his brow and upper lip, which trickled down his cheek as he worked himself into animated rhythm in a 10-minute speech that criticized President Obama.



“We’re led by a man who is a fine fellow but he’s out of his depth and doesn’t understand how the economy works,” said Mr. Romney, who is leading the Republican field in many polls but is not taking part in Saturday’s Iowa Straw Poll.

When the questions turned combative, Mr. Romney held his ground.

“If you want to speak, you can speak, but right now it’s my turn,” Mr. Romney said to applause, leaning down into the crowd to cut off an elderly man who was yelling at him about Social Security.

“You came here to listen!” the man retorted, to which Mr. Romney replied: “No, no, I came here to talk. Hold on a second, let me speak.”

Moments later, when he realized he wasn’t changing any of the hecklers’ minds, he said they were free to vote for someone else.

“I’m not going to raise taxes — that’s my answer,” he said. “And if you want someone who can raise taxes, you can vote for Barack Obama.”