Paul Ryan’s trouble with the facts isn’t over.
At the Republican National Convention last week, Ryan blamed President Obama for shuttering a General Motors factory, when in fact the plant had closed before his term began. That was one of several untruths that prompted a vigorous media push-back.
Then just today, the Wisconsin lawmaker was at it again. Ryan said Tuesday that 1.4 million businesses had filed for bankruptcy, when in fact only 47,806 had.
“Here’s a guy who by all reports is a smart guy,” msnbc Political Analyst Richard Wolffe said on PoliticsNation on Tuesday. “But this is just desperate!” HuffPost Live host and producer Alicia Menendez said Ryan’s fumbled facts were “particularly disappointing,” as many had high hopes for his abilities as a politician and policymaker. “When they were first talking about Ryan, everyone was so excited because he’s actually able, or so we thought he was actually able, to capture the nuance of policy. And it turns out he’s not” Menendez said. Ryan has also claimed that Obama would cut $716 million from Medicare, though countless factcheckers have called this misleading, since the cuts wouldn’t come from benefits. Ryan also said he’d run a marathon “under three [hours], high twos,” when in fact his marathon time had been 4:01:25. All the falsehoods have taken their toll. New York magazines Jonathan Chait has written that they’ve caused “a massive, swift erosion” of Ryan’s reputation and a “a huge retreat for his political brand.”
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