(Bloomberg News) Mitt Romney says he knows a photo in which he appears with other executives at Bain Capital LLC posing with cash in their hands, pockets and mouths will be used against him if he wins the Republican presidential nomination.
The 1980s image -- called the "Gordon Gekko" photo by some Democrats, a reference to the Michael Douglas character in the movie Wall Street -- offers an easy attack line at a time of high unemployment and sharp rhetoric against the nation's top money managers, investors and bankers.
"We posed for a picture, just celebrating the fact that we had raised a lot of money and then we hoped to be able to return it with a good return," Romney said on "Fox News Sunday."
Romney, a co-founder of the Boston-based private-equity fund, said the photo was taken after the company's first closing on an investment fund, one that raised $37 million.
Democrats have tried to suggest that Romney is out of touch with ordinary Americans and have pointed to his personal wealth, including his proposed $10,000 wager with Texas Governor Rick Perry during a Dec. 10 debate. He is worth as much as $250 million, according to a financial disclosure he filed in August.
If he wins his party's nomination, the former Massachusetts governor said he expects free enterprise will be "on trial" as he campaigns against President Barack Obama in 2012.
Job Losses 'Unfortunate'
Romney, appearing in his first weekend news program interview in almost two years, said job losses were an "unfortunate" part of Bain's investments in companies, adding that in a sound economy people should be able to find new jobs.
"Our intent in every case was to either help people realize their dreams by starting a business or taking a business that was failing or underperforming and making it more successful," he said.
Romney presented a business effort that contrasts with the Gekko character in the movie.
"My business was not buying things, taking them apart, closing them down," he said. "My business was associated with trying to make enterprises more successful. Not always was I able to succeed. But in each case, we tried to grow an enterprise."