Fox Still Defending Romney's “47 Percent” Attack Even After He Walked It Back

Fox News is still defending Mitt Romney's controversial remarks that 47 percent of American voters “pay no income tax” and “believe that they are victims,” even though Romney himself walked back his comments.

On the October 26 edition of America's Newsroom, co-host Martha MacCallum defended Mitt Romney's comments that 47 percent of the electorate support President Obama because they are dependent on the government. During an interview with Romney adviser Jim Talent, MacCallum rehashed Romney's argument, saying that voters who receive government assistance would vote for Obama because they were afraid Romney would take away their benefits:

MacCALLUM: You know, Governor Romney got a lot of heat for the 47 percent comment. But it does beg the question in terms of the numbers of people in the country who do accept, you know, some kind of government benefit, and what kind of impact it has on them when they go to the voting booth and they say, you know what, I'm not so sure, I think Governor Romney might want to take away some of the benefits that I do receive currently from the government, and I don't want to sign up for that.

After the clip of Romney disparaging 47 percent of Americans as “dependent on government” and unwilling to “take personal responsibility and care for their lives” surfaced in September -- an argument Fox had been advancing in the months prior to the video's release --  Fox news personalities tried to distract from and whitewash the remarks while simulaneously defending what he said.

But in an October 5 interview with Fox's Sean Hannity, Romney disavowed the comment, stating that “I said something that's just completely wrong” - undermining the defense of the remark that Fox and other right-wing news outlets had been performing.

MacCallum has a lengthy history of advocating for Republican policies in her position as a purported “straight news” co-host, as well as defending and praising Romney.