Paul Ryan: ‘I totally misspoke’ by calling generals liars

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House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Sunday said he had made a mistake by suggesting America’s top military brass were being dishonest when they said they supported President Barack Obama’s budget cuts.

“I totally misspoke,” Ryan admitted to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “It was not the impression I meant to give.”

During a budget summit in Washington on Thursday, Ryan had lashed out at the generals for presenting a budget that he said they didn’t really believe in.

“We don’t think the generals are giving us their true advice,” Ryan declared. “We don’t think the generals believe that their budget is really the right budget.”

Later that day, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Martin Dempsey had a sharp response to Ryan’s comments.

“There’s a difference between having someone say they don’t believe what you said versus … calling us, collectively, liars,” Gen. Dempsey explained to reporters.

“My response is: I stand by my testimony. This was very much a strategy-driven process to which we mapped the budget.”

Watch this video from ABC’s This Week, uploaded April 1, 2012.