NBC's Lauer Cites Obama Flack to Question If Paul Ryan Gave an 'Honest Speech'
In an interview with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush on Thursday's NBC Today,
co-host Matt Lauer used attack lines from deputy Obama campaign manager
Stephanie Cutter to question the honesty of Paul Ryan's vice
presidential nomination acceptance speech: "[She] said, 'Forty
minutes of vitriol and half a dozen previously debunked attacks.' Was it
an honest speech or was it just a campaign convention speech?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
This is the same Stephanie Cutter who in July made the wild accusation that Mitt Romney was a felon. In an interview with Cutter shortly after that outrageous comment, Lauer failed to even mention the remark, let alone challenge her on it.
Bush rejected the smear: "I thought it was a very honest speech. Paul
Ryan is in the reality wing of the Republican Party....he talked about
the failures of the President's economic policies."
Lauer then tried to paint Ryan as a hypocrite: "One of the things he
criticized the President for, was for rejecting what Ryan called, the,
quote, 'Urgent recommendations of a bipartisan debt
commission'....[Ryan] ultimately voted against those same
recommendations. So where's the truth in that? Why is he barking up that
tree?"
Bush pointed out that Ryan opposed the debt commission recommendations
because the proposal didn't go far enough: "...the reason that he didn't
vote for it, was it didn't even deal with entitlement reform. And he
has a proposal for entitlement reform. And of course the President and
his team are going to attack the Ryan plan, but they're not offering any
compelling alternative."
After having his two attacks on Ryan rebuffed, Lauer played the war-on-women card: "Governor
Romney has chipped away at the gender gap....But some people worry that
the addition of Paul Ryan to this ticket, and bringing with him his
staunchly conservative views on topics like abortion, will slow that
momentum? Do you share that fear?"
Lauer rounded out his grilling of Bush by fretting that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan were not ready for the job:
Remember in 2008, that somewhat famous Hillary Clinton campaign ad about the 3:00 a.m. phone call and was Barack Obama prepared to answer it? Voters decided he was. And now he's had four years to work with foreign policy and national security. Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan don't have that same experience. Are they prepared to answer that 3:00 a.m. phone call?
Bush shot back: "Absolutely. The President gets pretty good marks for foreign policy efforts, but it's because his economic policy is so bad. Compared to that, it looks alright."
Here is a full transcript of the August 30 interview:
7:12AM ET
MATT LAUER: Jeb Bush is the former Republican governor of the state of
Florida. Governor Bush, it's always nice to see you, thanks for coming
in.
JEB BUSH: Matt, welcome to Florida.
LAUER: Thank you, good to be here. You watched the speech last night. Did Paul Ryan do what he had to do?
JEB BUSH: Absolutely. First of all, he introduced himself to the
American voters. This is a person that's from the heartland of our
country, that comes from a background that many people can relate to and
who's been extraordinarily successful. I love his mom, you know? I love
the whole package.
LAUER:
Most of the reviews I've read this morning were pretty strong in terms
of its power, the speech, and its tone. Some were critical. Stephanie
Cutter, the deputy campaign manager for the Obama campaign, said, "Forty
minutes of vitriol and half a dozen previously debunked attacks." Was
it an honest speech or was it just a campaign convention speech?
BUSH: I thought it was a very honest speech. Paul Ryan is in the
reality wing of the Republican Party. In Washington D.C., normally
President's submit budgets and there's debate and you have ideas and you
present them to the Congress. The only guy in the last few years that
has actually had substantive plans to deal with our structural problems
is Paul Ryan. And he talked about that and he talked about the failures
of the President's economic policies. So that's fair game.
LAUER: One of the things he criticized the President for, was for
rejecting what Ryan called, the, quote, "Urgent recommendations of a
bipartisan debt commission." But Congressman Ryan failed to mention that
he served on that same debt commission and that as the GOP's ranking
member of the House Budget Committee, he ultimately voted against those
same recommendations. So where's the truth in that? Why is he barking up
that tree?
BUSH: Well, first of all, this was a president's commission, he – I
don't think you've ever heard Barack Obama say Simpson-Bowles in the
same sentence. He didn't even – he's not even acknowledged it, didn't
even say if it was good or bad. He's never acknowledged its existence.
What Paul Ryan says, the reason that he didn't vote for it, was it
didn't even deal with entitlement reform. And he has a proposal for
entitlement reform. And of course the President and his team are going
to attack the Ryan plan, but they're not offering any compelling
alternative.
LAUER: Let's talk about women. They are going to be key to this
election. Governor Romney has chipped away at the gender gap. It was
about 25 points in the advantage of President Obama, it's down to about
10 or 12. But some people worry that the addition of Paul Ryan to this
ticket and bringing with him his staunchly conservative views on topics
like abortion, will slow that momentum? Do you share that fear?
BUSH: I think if the focus remains on how do you create a climate of
sustained economic growth, where jobs are created and where people can
pursue their own dreams, rather than feeling compelled to get in line
with an ever-increasing government, that the Republicans will win.
LAUER: Social issues will not play that big a factor, in your opinion?
BUSH: No, I mean if – look, I'm pro-life and I know Paul Ryan is. These
are deeply held views. But that's not going to create a job for someone
who's laid off.
LAUER: Remember in 2008, that somewhat famous Hillary Clinton campaign
ad about the 3:00 a.m. phone call and was Barack Obama prepared to
answer it? Voters decided he was. And now he's had four years to work
with foreign policy and national security. Governor Romney and
Congressman Ryan don't have that same experience. Are they prepared to
answer that 3:00 a.m. phone call?
BUSH: Absolutely. Absolutely. The President gets pretty good marks for
foreign policy efforts, but it's because his economic policy is so bad.
Compared to that, it looks alright. But I think if you had a debate
about not just, 'Is he capable of being president?,' of course he is,
he's served– the President has served. But his politics, I think, have
been weak. I love Condi Rice's description, respectful description, of a
weak foreign policy and I think Mitt Romney will restore a sense that
the United States has a powerful moral role in the world.
LAUER: In an earlier interview, you talked about this election and you
said, quote, "This probably was my time." And that struck me. Are you
having second thoughts about not running?
BUSH: Well, there was a comma there, and it said, "And I'm completely comfortable with my decision."
LAUER: No second thoughts?
BUSH: No second thoughts.
LAUER: Jon Stewart and the Daily Show, they call their convention
coverage here, "RNC 2012: The Road to Jeb Bush 2016." [Laughter] Does it
make you laugh or does it make you think about four years down the
road, if Governor Romney is not successful?
BUSH: It makes me laugh as much as those twins. I'm going to stick around to see these kids perform.
LAUER: Alright, we're happy we could provide a little laughter for you this morning. Governor, it's always nice to see you.
BUSH: Thank you.
LAUER: Thank you very much. And you can see Mitt Romney's acceptance
speech tonight on NBC's coverage of the Republican National Convention,
10 Eastern/7 Pacific, right here on NBC. And coming up, we'll talk to
the always-interesting Bill O'Reilly.
