Paul Ryan at Georgetown: I was wrong to call "poor people" "takers"

Ryan’s one-hour talk April 27 at the Jesuit-run university’s Gaston Hall was billed as an effort to reach out to millennials. Political observers described it as an effort to soften his image in preparation for a 2020 run for the presidency.

The speech came nearly four years to the day after the Wisconsin Republican told a Georgetown audience, “The work I do as a Catholic holding office conforms to the social doctrine as best I can make of it.”

This time around, however, Ryan said nothing about his Catholic beliefs.

“What prompted you to reconsider your previous statements about poor people as takers?” asked Rachel Hirsch, a graduate student.

“I was just wrong,” Ryan replied. “I didn’t mean to give offense. … There are people who get knocked down in life. And to lump an entire category of people in one broad brush is wrong, I think.”

continue at Crux

WaPo has an extended quote:

“There was a time that I would talk about a difference between ‘makers’ and ‘takers’ in our country, referring to people who accepted government benefits. But as I spent more time listening, and really learning the root causes of poverty, I realized something. I realized that I was wrong. ‘Takers’ wasn’t how to refer to a single mom stuck in a poverty trap, trying to take care of her family. Most people don’t want to be dependent. And to label a whole group of Americans that way was wrong. I shouldn’t castigate a large group of Americans to make a point.”

He's said the same thing for a while now.

Image