ABC's Karl Hypes Biden for Not Letting Paul Ryan Get Away With 'Infamous' 47 Percent Remark

Good Morning America's Jon Karl on Friday touted Joe Biden's performance at the vice presidential debate, hyping that the Vice President brought up Mitt Romney's "infamous" comments about the 47 percent who don't pay income taxes. Karl concluded that Biden was "often dominant," but "maybe a little too dominant."

Contrasting Barack Obama's weak performance with the tone of the VP, Karl marveled, "Unlike the President, Biden slammed Ryan over Romney's infamous comments about the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay income taxes" MP3 audio here.]

If the remarks are "infamous," it's because journalists such as ABC's Diane Sawyer jumped on them back in September, labeling them a "political earthquake" and a seismic day." 

Clearly, journalists are forgiven much quicker than Republican politicians. David Chalian, who was fired from Yahoo for saying that GOP officials were "happy to have a party with black people drowning," has just been hired by Politico.

Karl closed by labeling his ABC colleague, debate moderator Martha Raddatz, the "clear consensus winner" from Thursday's debate. For more, see a piece by Rich Noyes.

A transcript of the October 12 segment can be found below:


STEPHANOPOULOS: It's your voice, your vote with just 25 days to go. And ABC's Jon Karl has all the highlights from Danville, Kentucky. And, Jon, boy, no throat-clearing last night. These guys were going at it right from the start.

JON KARL: They sure were, George. This was a clash of ideas. A clash of styles. And I would say the liveliest vice presidential debate we have ever seen. This one got personal.

KARL: Jack Kennedy lowered taxes and increased growth.

BIDEN: Oh, now your Jack Kennedy?

KARL: Barb after barb.

RYAN: I know you're under a lot of duress to make up for lost ground. But I think people will be better served if we don't keep interrupting each other.

BIDEN: Well, don't take all of the four minutes then.

KARL: Biden was often dominant. Maybe a little too dominant. Republicans claimed he interrupted Ryan 82 times, often breaking out in laughter. Even when Ryan was talking about Iranian nukes.

RYAN: And all I have to point to–

KARL: Biden was all-smiles when he accused Ryan of basically not telling the truth.


RADDATZ: What does that mean, a bunch of stuff?

BIDEN: Well, it means it's simply inaccurate.

RYAN: It's Irish.

BIDEN: We Irish call it malarkey.

RADDATZ: Thank you for the translation.

KARL: They disagreed on virtually everything, rom Syria to Medicare.

BIDEN: Now, they have a new plan. Trust me. It's not going to cost you any more. Folks, follow your instincts on this one.


KARL: ABC's Martha Raddatz pressed both of them, challenging Biden to explain the White House's shifting stories on the attack that killed the U.S. Ambassador to Libya.


BIDEN: Because that's what we were told by the intelligence community.

RADDATZ: By who?

RYAN: It's indicative of a broader problem. And that is, what we're watching on our TV screens is the unraveling of the Obama foreign policy.

KARL: Score one for Ryan there. But when Ryan slammed the administration's $800 billion stimulus bill, Biden was ready with this.


RADDATZ: You did ask for stimulus money, correct?

BIDEN: Sure he did.

RYAN: On two occasions, we advocated for constituents who are applying for grants. That's what we do. We do that for all constituents.

BIDEN: I love that. I love that. This is such a bad program. And he writes me a letter saying, writes the Department of Energy saying "the reason we need this stimulus, it will create growth and jobs." His words.

KARL: Unlike the President, Biden slammed Ryan over Romney's infamous comments about the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay income taxes. Ryan turned it back on Biden.

RYAN: I think the Vice President very well knows that sometimes the words don't come out of your mouth the right way.

KARL: Now, there will be a lot of discussion over who was stronger last night, Biden or Ryan. But I've got to tell you around here, there was one clear consensus winner and that was the moderator, Martha Raddatz, who taught the world what we all know around here, George. You don't mess with Martha.

STEPHANOPOULOS: That is for sure.
