Why Mitt Romney's new interview is 'hard to watch'

>> but no.

>> romney was on fox yesterday.

>> yes, he was. he made his first public comments in nearly four months.

>> what did he say?

>> this is a step up.

>> speaking of mean.

>> speaking of mean. what?

>> yeah, really. he acknowledged the impact of his loss, what it had on the gop which we can talk about. but he also criticized the leadership of the president. take a look.

>> to a certain degree when you hear about the rebranding, aren't people saying they want to distance the party from you?

>> well, i recognize that, it's the guy who lost the election, i'm not in a position to tell everybody else how to win. they're not going to listen. and i don't have the credibility to do that anyway, but i still care. and i still believe that there are principles that we need to stand for. i look at what's happening right now. i wish i were there. it kills me not to be there. not to be in the white house doing what needs to be done. the president is the leader of the nation. the president brings people together, does the deals, does the trades, knocks the heads together. the president leads. and i don't see that kind of leadership happening right now.

>> what is this president doing?

>> well, he's campaigning.

>> all right. romney also addressed what might be the enduring legacy of his campaign. his remarks about the so-called 47%. remember that?

>> that was a very unfortunate statement that i made. it's not what i meant. i didn't express myself as i wished i would have. you know, when you speak in private, you don't spend as much time thinking about how something could be twisted and distorted and can come out wrong and be used. you know, i did, and it was very harmful. what i said is not what i believe. obviously, my whole campaign -- my whole life has been devoted to helping people, all the people. i care about all the people of the country.

>> that didn't come out during his campaign. it came out right before they had clint eastwood stare at the chair.

>> that hurt the party.

>> how this guy spent his life helping people. you never really got that out. he did also double down on that 47% thingamabobber after he lost the race as well. most unfortunate. he's a good guy.

>> very nice.

>> i understand it's been tough on them. what are you laughing about?

>> she can't talk.

>> why can't you?

>> losing campaigns and losing candidates and watching them is akin to watching the car crash on the side of the road . you know you should keep going. you know there's a traffic jam because everybody turns and looks. but we still turn and look. and i think the romneys are trying -- have been dignified in defeat, but i think whenever you come out and talk about what wen wrong, there's just -- sort of wreaks of the bitterness and the regret. it's hard to watch.

>> yeah. and i think ann romney -- mitt romney 's the candidate, but she got -- i think she was so poorly --

>> she's still angry. it takes years to get over -- i mean, i think al gore is still getting over his loss. i mean, it takes years to get over losing a presidential campaign . and it's hard -- i mean, i think it's still pretty raw for them. lots of discussions were had around this table in realtime on what went wrong. what we're rehashing now. it is hard to watch, you know, especially the family. especially ann romney .

>> you know, the bushes were obviously very good at it. george w. bush continues to show remarkable, remarkable restraint and grace just like his father.