Democrats will do all they can to distort Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan's plan to reform Medicare, Donald Trump warned on CNBC.
Several months ago, Trump criticized Ryan for rolling out his attempt to reshape the deeply indebted health care program, asserting that it made Republicans an easy target for President Barack Obamain his re-election effort.
While Trump scaled back some of his criticism Tuesday, he said he remains concerned that the GOP has handed the White House an easy campaign issue.
"The Democrats are really going all out to say, 'If you go with these two folks, you're going to end up in the street,' and that's not the way it's going to be," the real estate tycoon said. "In fact, it's probably going to be better, and you're going to have a stronger system."
Marketing, then, will be key for the team of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and Ryan, a Wisconsin congressman and tea party favorite.
"You talk about demagoguery, (Democrats) are demagoguing to the point where it's almost — Medicare, everything's being taken away from you, you're going to be destroyed, you're going to have to live in the streets," Trump said. "That's hard to counter."
Democrats already have framed Ryan's reforms as "changing Medicare as we know it," even though the plan would not affect anyone currently in the program or 10 years away from retiring, and would allow even those younger to choose the current Medicare plan.
Trump said the issue could work to the GOP ticket's favor if the issues are framed correctly. He also praised the Ryan choice for electrifying the party.
"It's a bold pick, and it really has energized the Republican Party," he said. "It was a courageous pick in a certain way. He had to (do) something and something was done. Whether it was a great pick or not we're going to find out in 90 days."
