Carney: Biden was smiling because of Ryan's 'hypocritical' statements

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Friday that he believed Vice President Biden was seen smiling at Thursday's vice presidential debate because he thought his opponent, Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan, was espousing "hypocritical" views.

“When Congressman Ryan started attacking the administration over the Recovery Act and the split screen showed the vice president smiling, I can guess why he was smiling,” Carney said. “He knew how hypocritical that was.”

Carney, who served as a spokesman for Biden before becoming White House press secretary, said the vice president's frequent grins and laughter were an expression of his natural enthusiasm for his job and the debate.

“As someone who worked with the vice president for two years and traveled around the country and world with him, I took extreme pleasure in watching the debate last night because of the way he demonstrated the passion, wisdom and joy he brings to the job of serving the American people,” Carney said.

Unsurprisingly, Romney campaign press secretary Andrea Saul had a different opinion of Biden's frequent grins when asked about the vice president's attitude during an interview Friday with Fox News.

“The reason that Vice President Biden smirked his way through the debate is because he can’t explain to the American people how the next four years are going to be any better than the last four years," Saul said. "And I don’t think that people across the country that watched his attitude are going to take kindly to the fact that he seems so bemused of these serious issues that we face."

Biden, clearly looking to rebound from President Obama's sluggish and subdued performance in last week's presidential debate, presented a sharp contrast in demeanor and tone from his opponent throughout the debate. The vice president frequently laughed and interrupted his rival as Ryan lobbed criticisms, appearing both confident and dismissive of the Republican nominee.

But on Friday, many Republicans accused the vice president of having overstepped his bounds and say he treated Ryan rudely during the contest.

Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt, also appearing on Fox News, called the criticism "preposterous."

“You know Gov. Romney has spent the entire campaign saying that he’d stand up to China, and apparently now Gov. Romney and Congressman Ryan can’t handle a little bit of laughing and smiling," LaBolt said. "That seems preposterous to me.”

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