Mother Jones has published a "secret" video captured during a private fundraiser for Mitt Romney, in which the Republican presidential candidate tells a small gathering of wealthy voters what he thinks of Americans who support Obama.

The tl;dr: rich guy who gets millions in tax breaks calls half of America parasites.

"[The] 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it."

About 47% of the country, Romney continued, "[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Update: David Corn of Mother Jones says the tape was recorded in Boca Raton, FL on May 17, 2012 at the home of Marc Leder of Sun Capital.

(via Chris Geidner). And here's an explainer on where that "47% of Americans pay no taxes" stuff comes from.

Update 2: Holy moly. The fundraiser took place at a sex-partying hedge-funder's estate? Charles Johnson at LGF writes that "Leder has been in the news before, and Mitt Romney's religious right sponsors may not be pleased to find out about the other kinds of activities that take place at Leder's mansion: Marc Leder Ends His Weekly Bashes in the Hamptons With Naked Guests Cavorting in the Pool and Peforming Public Sex Acts." How would the Right react if Obama hosted fundraisers at mansions where orgies took place? MoJo's Marc Corn has more.

Meanwhile, Romney campaign spokesperson Gail Gitcho responds to the video, and does not deny it's Romney, or that the words as reported are accurate. Gitcho says Romney wants to "help all Americans struggling in the Obama economy," and "he is concerned about the growing number of people who are dependent on the federal government."

At about 730pm PT this evening, Romney gave what was apparently a very hastily-arranged live press conference. My live-tweeted notes:

Romney, asked if he's worried about offending 47% of USA: "It's not elegantly stated… I'm speaking off the cuff." — Boing Boing (@BoingBoing) September 18, 2012

Romney: "This is ultimately a question about direction for the country… a country that provides benefits… or free enterprise." — Boing Boing (@BoingBoing) September 18, 2012

Romney: "I hope the person who has the video will put out the full material." [are you daring @motherjones?] — Boing Boing (@BoingBoing) September 18, 2012

[Romney looks stressed. His hair is a mess.] — Boing Boing (@BoingBoing) September 18, 2012

Romney: "This is really a discussion about the political process of winning the election. I want to help all Americans." #hurrdurr — Boing Boing (@BoingBoing) September 18, 2012