Jimmy Carter's grandson: Family honor prompted him to help leak Romney video

By Julian Pecquet - 09/18/12 01:50 PM ET

The grandson of former president Jimmy Carter told NBC News that he was motivated by Republican attacks on his grandfather's foreign policy record to help leak a secretly recorded video that has become Mitt Romney's latest headache.

James Carter IV, who is 35 and unemployed, said he helped persuade the person who filmed the May 17 fundraiser in Boca Raton, Fla., to leak the video to the press. Carter described himself as a “partisan Democrat” devoted to getting president Obama reelected, but he also told NBC that he had a personal stake in going after Romney.

Carter acted as a liaison between the person who shot the video and the liberal magazine Mother Jones, which has posted the most extensive clips from the Romney event.

“It gets under my skin — mostly the weakness on the foreign policy stuff," Carter told NBC. "I just think it's ridiculous. I don’t like criticism of my family."

In the video, Romney can be heard describing Obama supporters as people who are "dependent on the government" and "believe that they are victims." The Republican candidate also downplays any chance of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, who he says are “committed to the destruction” of Israel.