FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT:
MR. DAVID GREGORY: This Sunday, it started right here.
(Videotape)
FMR. REP. NEWT GINGRICH (R-GA): I don't think right wing social engineering is any more desirable than left wing social engineering.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: Newt Gingrich set off a huge battle on the right over Medicare, the debt, and the GOP's 2012 strategy. The target of that criticism, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, whose plan to reform Medicare has made him the most talked about figure in Republican politics. And he is here this morning exclusively to respond to the controversy Gingrich created.
Then, our political roundtable weighs in on all the fallout, Gingrich's rough start and changing story.
(Videotape)
REP. GINGRICH: Those words were inaccurate and unfortunate, and I'm prepared to stand up and--when I make a mistake, and I'm going to on occasion, I want to stand up and share with the American people that was a mistake.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: How are the Democrats trying to take advantage, and what does it all mean for the rest of the GOP contenders who are making fresh moves in the campaign? Mitch Daniels is now out, along with Trump earlier this week. Pawlenty is about to get in. And Huntsman in New Hampshire. Plus, the president's big Mideast speech and the rupture with Israel. With us: ranking member of the House Budget Committee, Democrat Chris Van Hollen of Maryland; Republican strategist and columnist for Time magazine Mike Murphy; chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News, Andrea Mitchell; columnist for The Washington Post Eugene Robinson; and author of the book "Too Big to Fail," now an HBO movie, The New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin.
Announcer: From NBC News in Washington, MEET THE PRESS with David Gregory.
MR. GREGORY: Good morning.
Breaking news in the 2012 race for the White House. Mitch Daniels will not run for president. The Indiana governor, who many thought would arrive on a white horse to buck up the GOP field, will not join the fray after all, announcing in a surprise statement overnight that family concerns made the difference. From the statement, he writes about his wife Cheri and his four daughters the following: "What could have been a complicated decision was in the end very simple: on matters affecting us all, our family constitution gives a veto to the women's caucus, and there is no override provision. Simply put, I find myself caught between two duties. I love my country; I love my family more." And with that, the field narrows.
I want to begin here this morning, and I'm joined by the chairman of the House Budget Committee, Paul Ryan.
Chairman, welcome back to MEET THE PRESS.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI): Hey, good morning, David. Nice to be with you.
MR. GREGORY: I want to get your, your reaction to the Daniels news because he is, in many ways, a kindred spirit on a lot of these fiscal issues, fiscal discipline. He won't be a part of that 2012 conversation as a candidate. A big blow to the party, do you think?
REP. RYAN: Well, he called me last night and gave me the news about this, so quite frankly, yes, I am disappointed. I think his candidacy would have been a great addition to this race, and I think it's unfortunate that he's not going to run.
MR. GREGORY: What about your own plans? There's a move afoot this morning, one of the big trending stories is whether you might actually join the race with a fiscal discipline message for 2012. Will it happen?
REP. RYAN: Well, look, I've been very clear about this. I'm not running for president. I feel, because we are in a big budget debate, I'm in a great position as chairman of the House Budget Committee to really weigh in on this debate. And I feel at the moment we are in, I want to stay focused on where we are right now, and that is getting our fiscal house in order.
MR. GREGORY: So under no circumstances would you run or be on the ticket as a number two?
REP. RYAN: Look, I, I'm not going to get into all those hypotheticals. I'm not running for president, I'm not planning on running for president. If you're running for president, you've got to do a lot of things to line up a candidacy. I've not done any of those things. It's not my plan. My plan is to be a good chairman of the House Budget Committee and fight for the fiscal sanity of this nation.
MR. GREGORY: Understood. There's a little bit of door opening there, though, the door's a bit ajar. And you know how, you know how this works.
REP. RYAN: It's not door opening, it's just--I do know how this works, and I'm not going to get into all these hypotheticals in the future. My point is I'm not running for president. You never know what opportunities present themselves way down the road. I'm not talking about right now. And I want to focus on fixing the fiscal problems of this country. And I really believe, David, where I am as chairman of the House Budget Committee puts me in a great position to, to be a great contributor to this debate.
MR. GREGORY: OK. Stay where you are, Chairman, please. The other big political story this week, of course, had to do with Newt Gingrich. He's in Iowa this weekend. He says his presidential campaign is alive and well despite a very tough week that began with his criticism of my guest, Paul Ryan, whose plan to reform Medicare is now the hot topic in Washington and on the campaign trail. We're going to continue our interview with Chairman Ryan in just a moment, but first some of the background.
Just days after announcing his White House run, Gingrich made his 35th appearance on this program and shocked many by upending a centerpiece of the conservative 2012 playbook by calling Ryan's Medicare plan "right wing social engineering."
(Videotape, last Sunday)
REP. GINGRICH: So there are things you can do to improve Medicare...
MR. GREGORY: But not what Paul Ryan is suggesting, which is completely changing Medicare.
REP. GINGRICH: I, I think that, I think, I think that that is too big a jump.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: Gingrich made headlines, but not the ones he wanted.
(Audiotape, Tuesday, WLS)
REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-VA): To somehow portray that as a radical step, I think, is a tremendous misspeak.
(End audiotape)
(Videotape, Monday)
MR. RUSH LIMBAUGH: Cuts Paul Ryan off at the knees, it supports the Obama administration.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: He was even confronted by a voter during his first swing through Iowa.
(Videotape)
Unidentified Man: What you just did to Paul Ryan is unforgivable.
REP. GINGRICH: I didn't do anything to Paul Ryan.
Man: Yes, you did.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: By Tuesday, Gingrich began backtracking.
(Videotape, Tuesday)
REP. GINGRICH: I made a mistake, and I called Paul Ryan today, who's a very close, personal friend, and I said that.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: But other conservatives had already moved in.
(Videotape, Wednesday)
FMR. GOV. SARAH PALIN (R-AK): And it sounded pretty clear to me that Newt Gingrich's position, because he articulated this, was that Paul Ryan's plan would be social engineering, and he didn't like it.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: By Thursday, Gingrich moved on to denial.
(Videotape, Thursday)
REP. GINGRICH: It was not a reference to Paul Ryan. There was no reference to Paul Ryan in that answer.
MR. LIMBAUGH: Well, then what did you apologize to him about?
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: Missteps that gave political commentators and comedians alike material all week long.
(Videotape)
REP. GINGRICH: So let me say on the record, any ad which quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood, and--because I have said publicly those words were inaccurate and unfortunate.
MR. JON STEWART: You know, I, I've always found the hallmark of an honest conversation is one that begins with, "If you quote me directly, utilizing videotape of my comments in context, you're lying."
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: The bigger issue beyond Gingrich's campaign is the sensitivity he exposed among Republicans to Ryan's budget plan, including Medicare. Just how far will and should the GOP go to tackle the debt in this election season?
And I'm back with Chairman Paul Ryan.
How did you respond to all of this? Meet the Press transcript for May 22, 2011 FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT
TEXT IMAGE and VIDEO CREDIT: Meet The Press
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