Mitt Romney 47 Percent Denial: 'Actually, I Didn't Say That' Says Former Republican Nominee [VIDEO]

The gaffe that some say cost former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney the election apparently wasn't what it looked like. Romney told Dan Balz of the Washington Post in an interview published Sunday that his infamous "47 percent" comment, in which he indicated that 47 percent of Americans would vote for Obama no matter what while also citing government dependence as a reason, was taken out of context.

"Actually, I didn't say that ...That's how it began to be perceived, and so I had to ultimately respond to the perception, because perception is reality," Romney said.

He said his comments were actually aimed at swing voters, the Huffington Post reported. While many suggested that he implied that he didn't care about the so-called 47 percent, Romney maintained that he was saying that it was a demographic he would be unable to reach and therefore had to focus his efforts on others who may not have decided on who they were voting for.

"[I]t was saying, 'Look, the Democrats have 47 percent, we've got 45 percent, my job is to get the people in the middle, and I've got to get the people in the middle,'" Romney said. "They've got a bloc of voters, we've got a bloc of voters, I've got to get the ones in the middle. And I thought that that would be how it would be perceived -- as a candidate talking about the process of focusing on the people in the middle who can either vote Republican or Democrat."

He originally made the statement at a Republican fundraiser in Florida in March of 2012. His speech to a convention of Romney supports was caught on tape and subsequently went viral on the Internet. Viewers were outraged on what was perceived to be a jab at Obama voters for being "dependent" on the government. Though Romney said his comments were misunderstood, he said the clip was very damaging to his campaign.

"And so my job is not to worry about those people -- I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to do is convince the 5 to 10 percent in the center that are independents, that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon in some cases emotion, whether they like the guy or not, what it looks like," he said at the fundraiser in 2012.