Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo grills Paul Ryan about his newfound support for giant deficits

Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo took House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to task Tuesday for voting for a budget that would increase the deficit by $7 trillion by 2027. In theory, such robust spending should infuriate Ryan, who railed against deficits and sounded the alarm about an impending "debt crisis" during President Obama's time in office. But in the age of President Trump, Ryan is whipping up support for the debt-inducing budget — and being forced to defend his reversal.

"We're talking about out-of-control spending … leading to trillion-dollar deficits for 10 years," Bartiromo told Ryan on her show Mornings With Maria, then asked: "Tell me how you're looking at that." Ryan defended the budget by noting its mandatory spending cuts and increased funding for the military. "The domestic spending we put in here is pretty much one-time spending," he said, adding that concessions like disaster aid and infrastructure spending were necessary "to get the military budget we wanted." Ryan also complained that the deficit wouldn't have been so big if the Senate had saved money (in theory) by repealing the Affordable Care Act last summer.

Bartiromo shot back, "[People] are surprised at you because you've been this entitlement reform person and a deficit hawk for years," which prompted Ryan to interrupt and insist, "And I still am." The host continued: "But you don't look like you are based on this budget." Watch the exchange below. Kelly O'Meara Morales

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