Ryan tells Lauer, “Read the speech!”

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

With Ryan, this shit never stops: Paul Ryan appeared on the Today show this morning.

Matt Lauer asked him the following question about his fact-challenged convention address: “Would you concede that while some of the things you said were effective, some were not completely accurate?”

“Not in the least,” Ryan bravely said. From there, he proceeded to make another statement which is baldly inaccurate!

First, Ryan instructed Lauer that he should “read the speech.” After that, he plainly misstated what his convention speech said:

LAUER (9/4/12): Would you concede that while some of the things you said were effective, some were not completely accurate?

RYAN: No, not in the least, actually. What they are trying to suggest is that I said that Barack Obama was responsible for our plant shutdown in Janesville. That is not what I was saying. Read the speech.

What I was saying is, the president ought to be held to account for his broken promises. After our plant was shut down, he said that he would lead an effort to retool plants like the Janesville plant to get people back to work. It’s still idle; people are still not working there. Lots of people I grew up with who lost their jobs there still don’t have those jobs there. So my point was not to label him on a plant shutdown. It was, this is yet another example of the president’s broken promises. In 2008, he traveled all around the country making promises that he broke just like the one in Janesville.

“Read the speech,” Ryan told Lauer. After that, he mischaracterized what the convention speech said.

Speaking to Lauer, Ryan gave a false impression about his convention address. He implied that he referred in that speech to a promise Obama made “after our plant was shut down.”

Sorry, that's baldly bogus. In his convention address, Ryan clearly referred to Candidate Obama’s campaign speech in Janesville. That speech occurred on February 13, 2008, well before the Janesville plant shut down.

Here is the relevant text from Ryan’s convention address:

RYAN (8/29/12): President Barack Obama came to office during an economic crisis, as he has reminded us a time or two. Those were very tough days. And any fair measure of his record has to take that into account.

My own state voted for President Obama. When he talked about change, many people liked the sound of it. Especially in Janesville, where we were about to lose a major factory. A lot of guys I went to high school with worked at that G.M. plant. Right there at that plant, Candidate Obama said, I believe that if our government is there to support you, this plant will be here for another 100 years.

That's what he said in 2008. Well as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day. And that's how it is in so many towns where the recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight.

Obama’s statement about the hundred years was made in Janesville on February 13, 2008—months before the first announcement that the plant would be shutting down. This morning, talking to Lauer, Ryan gave the impression that he had referred to a promise Obama made after the plant shut down.

“Read the speech,” he courageously said. After that, he flatly misstated what he had said in the speech.

“Read the speech,” Ryan courageously said. He might as well have told Lauer to talk to the hand.

Ryan can’t seem to stop this shit. A question: Will Lauer correct him?

Where do they find these people: Meanwhile, on Today's web site, the program joins Ryan in misstating the chronology of these bone-simple events.

The post was written by Eun Kyung Kim. Below, you see the start of the text, starting with the headline:

Paul Ryan: Obama didn't shut auto plant, but didn't fix it, either
By Eun Kyung Kim, TODAY contributor
Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is defending parts of his convention speech that have come under scrutiny, including claims that President Obama was responsible for shuttering an auto plant in Ryan’s hometown.

“What they are trying to suggest is that I said Barack Obama was responsible for the plant shut down in Janesville. That is not what I was saying. Read the speech,” he told Matt Lauer on TODAY Tuesday. “What I was saying is the president ought to be held to account for his broken promises. After our plant was shut down, he said would lead an effort to retool plants like the Janesville plant to get people back to work. ... It’s still idle; people are still not working there. Lots of people I grew up with who lost their jobs there still don’t have their jobs there.”

During his acceptance speech last week at the Republican National Convention, Ryan made a reference to a campaign visit that then-presidential candidate Obama made to a GM plant in Janesville, Wis. However, the plant had already been shut down when Obama paid the visit.

“The plant had already been shut down when Obama paid the visit?” Sorry, that’s wrong. Here is the chronology:

February 2008: Obama visits Janesville, makes statements in question
June 2008: GM announces the Janesville plant will shut down by the end of 2009
October 2008: GM announces the plant will shut down sooner, by the end of December 2008
January 2009: Obama takes office

The plant had not “already been shut down when Obama paid the visit.” Meanwhile, we don't know why the Today show's text includes that dot-dot-dot. Watching the tape of Ryan's remarks, there is no sign that any of his remarks have been deleted.

Everybody makes mistakes. Even at the highest levels, our “press corps” makes them in bushels. The topic of the Today show’s error has been fact-checked by a thousand sites.

Hustlers like Ryan rely on confusion as they pile up their “mistakes.”