In a television interview Tuesday, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan said that his running mate's controversial remarks — about how his "job is not to worry about" the 47 percent of Americans "dependent on government" — were "obviously inarticulate."
“He was obviously inarticulate in making this point, and the point we’re trying to make here is, under the Obama economy, government dependency is up and economic stagnation is up, and what we’re trying to achieve is getting people off of government dependency and back to a job that pays well that gets them on the path of prosperity,” Ryan tolkd KNRV, the NBC affiliate in Reno, Nev.
But while Ryan said Romney could have phrased his argument better, he said the spirit of the comments was still something the Republican ticket would defend.
“Oh, I think he would have said it differently, that’s for sure, but the point still stands,” Ryan said. “We have too many people becoming too dependent on government because of the poor economic policies of the Obama administration.”
Romney himself has said his comments were "not elegantly stated" and that he was "speaking off the cuff."
"I'm sure I could state it more clearly in a more effective way than I did in a setting like that," Romney said Monday.
The Obama campaign has seized on the video to paint Romney as concerned only about those who would support him in the election.
"One of the things I learned as president is you represent the entire country," Obama said during an appearance on "The Late Show With David Letterman" Tuesday night. "If you want to be president, you have to work for everyone."
