WASHINGTON: A secretly made video shows Republican Mitt Romney telling wealthy donors that nearly half of Americans are dependent on government and that his role “is not to worry about those people.”

Not long after the video surfaced Monday, a tired-looking Romney held a hastily called late-night news conference and conceded his “off the cuff” remarks were not “elegantly stated.” The Romney campaign has not disputed the video’s authenticity.

More footage was released yesterday from the same event, with Romney saying Palestinians are “committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel” and suggesting that efforts at Mideast peace under his administration would languish.

President Barack Obama’s campaign quickly seized on the video, obtained by Mother Jones magazine and made public just as Romney’s campaign was saying it needed a change in campaign strategy to gain momentum in the still-close race.

As Obama opens a lead in the polls, Romney has been fighting off criticism from powerful Republican voices blaming him for missing opportunities at the party’s recent national convention, on Middle East unrest and, most crucially, on the US economy, which is seen as the president’s weakest point.

Obama’s campaign called the video, taken in May at a gathering of wealthy donors in Florida, “shocking.”

“It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation,” Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a statement.

In the video, Romney says, “There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. There are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that 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.”

Romney added that 47 percent of Americans pay no income tax and said his role “is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

About 46 percent of Americans owed no federal income tax in 2011, although many of them paid other forms of taxes. Many were too poor or in the military. More than 16 million elderly Americans avoid federal income taxes solely because of tax breaks that apply only to the elderly, according to Tax Policy Center.

In the seven-minute news conference late Monday, Romney did not dispute the authenticity of the video, but he called for its full release, not just the clips posted online. He sought to clarify his remarks but did not apologize.

“It’s not elegantly stated, let me put it that way. I was speaking off the cuff in response to a question. And I’m sure I could state it more clearly in a more effective way than I did in a setting like that,” Romney said. “Of course I want to help all Americans. All Americans have a bright and prosperous future.”

He continued: “It’s a message which I am going to carry and continue to carry, which is that the president’s approach is attractive to people who are not paying taxes, because frankly my discussion about lowering taxes isn’t as attractive to them. Therefore I’m not likely to draw them into my campaign as effectively as those in the middle.”

In the footage released yesterday, Romney criticized Obama’s foreign policy approach as “naive.”