TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder isn’t singing Republican Mitt Romney’s praises.

Vedder said during a Thursday performance at a fundraiser for President Barack Obama that he was upset by Romney’s caught-on-tape comments from last spring that 47 percent of Americans consider themselves victims and entitled to government help.

‘‘It’s very upsetting to hear a presidential candidate be so easily dismissive of such a ginormous amount of the population,’’ Vedder told the Obama donors. He said if Romney were to win the White House, ‘‘none of those 47 percent of people would have a voice.’’

Vedder told the audience that he struggled as a young man and credited a government training program with helping him learn the skills he needed to become a security guard in San Diego, a job that helped support his rock ‘n roll ambitions.

‘‘It was that job that allowed me to also afford the guitars and tape recorder and microphones I needed to let me afford keep working on music,’’ he said. ‘‘It was also the job I reluctantly left to move up to Seattle for less pay, in order to join a band. It all worked out.’’

Vedder performed a four-song acoustic set: ‘‘Rise,’’ ‘'Without You,’’ a cover of James Taylor’s ‘‘Millworker’’ and a cover of Neil Young’s ‘‘Rockin’ in the Free World.’’

At one point, Vedder broke out a Hawaiian-made ukulele and joked, ‘‘It’s got a little birth certificate right in there.’’