By A Florida bartender has acknowledged secretly recording the video at a private Mitt Romney fundraiser at which the 2012 Republican presidential candidate disparaged the "47 percent" of Americans he said would vote for President Barack Obama because they were dependent on government.. In his first public interview, Scott Prouty told MSNBC's Ed Schultz on Wednesday that he lost sleep and struggled for weeks before deciding to release the recording to the magazine Mother Jones.. But Prouty says he thought it was important that people heard Romney and knew what he was really thinking.. In the video, Romney tells donors paying $50,000 apiece that 47 percent of Americans are dependent on government, see themselves as victims and believe the government has a responsibility to care for them.. Critics used the video to argue that the multimillionaire Republican was out of touch with average Americans, and Romney himself has acknowledged that his words "did real damage.". The bartender said he brought a camera to the Boca Raton, Fla., fundraiser last May in case Romney came back to take pictures with the staff.. "I didn't go there with a grudge against Romney. I really had no idea he would say what he said.". In a Huffington Post interview, Prouty also recalled having served Romney a Diet Coke with lemon while tending bar at a previous event.. "He took it out of my hand and turned his back without a 'thank you' or anything else," Prouty said.. Prouty said he concluded Romney "will never, ever know what regular people go through on a regular basis."
