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J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Van Hollen to GOP on debt: You built that
Maryland Democrat says he gets along with Ryan personally, but has deep policy differences.
It did not take Chris Van Hollen long after taking center stage in Charlotte to engage his Republican counterpart on the Budget Committee, vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan.
Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat and the ranking member on the Budget Committee, used a central theme of the Republican convention, "We built that," and the GOP's running debt clock to criticize the party.
"Paul told America, 'If you elect Republicans, we can fix that.' But, if Paul Ryan was being honest, he would have pointed to that debt clock and said: 'We built that.'
Van Hollen said on Wednesday during an event hosted by National Journal and The Atlantic that he gets along with Ryan personally, but they "have these very deep policy differences."