Paul Ryan: 'If We Had a Clinton Presidency, We Would Have Fixed This Fiscal Mess By Now'

Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) made a comment on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday that is guaranteed to raise eyebrows on both sides of the aisle.

"If we had a Clinton presidency, if we had Erskine Bowles chief-of-staff at the White House, or President of the United States, I think we would have fixed this fiscal mess by now. That's not the kind of presidency we're dealing with right now."

DAVID GREGORY, HOST: It was interesting on the day of the inauguration, Brian Williams and I and others were talking, and we noticed some video during the luncheon after the inauguration. And one of the things that caught our eye was a great moment here. You have your back to us. But there you are speaking, you’re with Secretary Clinton but also President Clinton. And that's just one of those moments where you say, gosh, what were they talking about? Any advice there coming from the former President?

CONGRESSMAN PAUL RYAN (R-WISCONSIN): We were talking about personal health. Both of us lost our dads when we were young, and we were just talking. I got concussions when I was young, and Hillary was telling me about hers. We were just kind of chumming it up.

Look, if we had a Clinton presidency, if we had Erskine Bowles chief-of-staff at the White House, or President of the United States, I think we would have fixed this fiscal mess by now. That's not the kind of presidency we're dealing with right now.

GREGORY: And you don't blame conservatives, particularly in the House, for thwarting that effort?

RYAN: Both parties - forget about just the recent past - both parties got us to the mess we are in, this fiscal crisis, Republicans and Democrats. And you know what? It’s going to take both parties to solve this problem. That’s the kind of leadership we need today.

Of course, one wonders if Ryan meant a Bill Clinton presidency or a Hillary Clinton presidency.

Unfortunately, Gregory didn't ask him to elaborate.