White House senior adviser David Plouffe on Sunday chastised Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan for backing away from his earlier support of defense cuts, saying the Wisconsin congressman “was running away from them with the kind of pace he ran in that fictitional marathon.” Although Ryan voted for a deal that would have triggered significant cuts to defense, he has recently criticized the sequestration plan.
During an interview on Sunday, CBS host Chief White House Correspondent Norah O’Donnell asked Ryan why he was “criticizing the president for those same defense cuts you’re voting for and called a victory.”
“I have to correct on you this, Norah. I voted for a mechanism that says the sequester will occur if we don’t cut $1.2 trillion in government,” Ryan explained.
“Right, a trillion dollars in defense spending, and you voted for it!” O’Donnell pointed out.
“No, Norah,” Ryan replied. “I voted for the Budget Control Act.”
“That included defense spending!” O’Donnell pressed.
“Norah, you’re mistaken,” Ryan insisted.
After hearing that he had refused to even admit he had supported defense cuts, Plouffe drew a comparison to Ryan’s recent false claim that he had run a marathon in less than three hours.
“Interesting to hear Congressman Ryan,” Plouffe told O’Donnell. “You asked him questions. He voted for the sequester. He voted for the Budget Control Act. He was running away from them with the pace that he ran in the fictitional marathon that you asked him about.”
“Getting our fiscal house in order, dealing with the sequester is very simple. We need compromise,” he added. “President Obama is the one person in Washington who is very committed to compromise.”
