https://youtube.com/watch?v=1idY1lsTNyc
The man who captured the 2012 campaign’s most notorious video — in which GOP nominee Mitt Romney told the crowd assembled at a closed-door fundraiser that “there are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what,” in part because they “believe that they are victims” — revealed his identity earlier tonight on MSNBC’s The Ed Show.
He is Scott Prouty, and was working as a bartender at the May 2012 fundraiser where Romney delivered the remarks, which he later described as “very unfortunate” and “very harmful.”
Prouty, a self-described “regular guy,” told host Ed Schultz that he felt an obligation to disclose the video, which he captured at the Boca Raton, Fla. fundraiser with a Canon camera. Though he said he brought his personal camera to the event with no intention of harming Romney, he thought the tenor of the candidate’s remarks was different from that of his public speeches.
“You shouldn’t have to be able to afford $50,000 to hear what the candidate actually thinks,” Prouty said, referring to the cost of entry to the Florida fundraiser.
Prouty said he “risked everything” by leaking the video, but would have felt like a coward if he’d kept its contents confidential.
He first shared the full video with David Corn of Mother Jones magazine in August 2012 after James Carter IV, the grandson of former president Jimmy Carter, found the “47 percent” snippet on YouTube. Carter assisted Corn in his effort to coax Prouty to hand over the complete video. Prouty indicated that he chose to remain anonymous until now because he wanted the focus throughout the campaign to remain on the substance of Romney’s remarks.