Paul Ryan's local TV interview walkout

(Image credit: Screen shot)

last updated 8 January 2015

The video: GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan got a bit prickly Monday, bristling at a supposedly "strange" question during a televised interview on ABC 12 in Flint, Mich. (Watch the interview below.) "Does this country have a gun problem?" the reporter asked Ryan. The Wisconsin congressman responded: "We have good strong gun laws. We have to enforce our laws." Ryan went on to explain that the key to reducing violence is helping people "get out of poverty." The reporter pressed him: "And you can do all that by lowering taxes?" Ryan became visibly uncomfortable, and his aide abruptly ended the interview. "That was kind of strange," Ryan said to the reporter. "Trying to stuff words in people's mouths."

The reaction: There is nothing strange about this reporter's question, says Alex Moore at Death and Taxes. True, but let's not accuse Ryan of storming out on the reporter, says Adam Clark Estes at The Atlantic Wire. Really, the congressman just insulted the newsman a little bit, and frankly, "does a great job dodging the question." Perhaps, but Ryan better get used to answering tough follow-up questions, says Steve Kornacki at Salon, especially since he's bound to get "some aggressive questioning" from Joe Biden in Thursday's VP debate. Judge for yourself: