Republican vice president nominee Paul Ryan said Friday that he expected the negative reaction he received during a New Orleans AARP event and that the 2011 tax return release by GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney shows his family's generosity.
Ryan made his comments after visiting a fruit stand in Bartow, Fla. and greeting of about 50 local supporters at a nearby Lakeland airport.
While speaking in New Orleans to an annual convention of the AARP earlier in the day, Ryan was booed briefly when he discussed Medicare and told the crowd that, if elected, a Romney administration planned to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act healthcare law.
"You know, entitlement reform has unfortunately been made very partisan, by partisans. And so I had that negative reaction," said Ryan, who will hold formal campaign events in Miami and Orlando on Saturday. "And unfortunately it's what we've come to expect because the politics of reforming entitlements has become very bitter. It's very unfortunate because if we let politics get the best of us, these problems are gonna get out of our control."
Ryan is set to attend a "Victory Rally" Saturday morning at Versailles Restaurant in Little Havana.
He landed in Miami at about 9 p.m. Friday, NBC News reported.
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Shopping together at the fruit stand, Ryan and his mother purchased two large bags of tangerines. He also spoke with some fellow shoppers, including a woman who asked if his planned Medicare reforms would affect her care.
Ryan said he didn't know about the specific program in her county, but he assured her that he and Romney planned to make sure Medicare "is solvent."
The Wisconsin congressman also reacted to comments made by fellow Republican and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who told a conservative radio host Friday that he felt Ryan could be used more effectively on the campaign trail.
"Oh he's just a good backer of mine. I feel very good about it," Ryan said of Walker's comments. "I'm doing the things I want to do. I was excited to go to AARP today. I was excited to go to the Values Voters summit. Look, what we're doing, we're talking to local people, going around the country talking to local press. I'm excited about my role and I feel very comfortable with it."
Asked specifically if he's happy with his role campaigning thus far, Ryan said "Oh, absolutely."
Ryan also wasn't shy about addressing his running mate's release of his 2011 tax returns.
One of the wealthiest candidates ever to run for president, Romney paid nearly $2 million in federal taxes on the $13.7 million in income reported for himself and his wife last year. That comes to an effective tax rate of 14.1 percent, lower than millions of middle-income Americans but more than he had to pay.
"I think what this shows is the Romneys are very generous people," Ryan said. "They gave 30 percent of their income to charity. Mitt Romney has always believed that for whom much is given much is required. And he's living proof of that. This just shows how generous the Romneys are as people."
