WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden is dismissing as "rhetoric but not much substance" Mitt Romney's answers to questions at Tuesday night's presidential debate.
"Everything is sketchy," Biden said in an interview aired Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show.
"There's no direct answers to any questions," he added, saying that he suspects the answers are vague because Romney's policies, "really do mirror the policies of George Bush on the economy, and they don't want to talk about it."
He said he thought President Barack Obama did an "incredible job" in the debate on ABC's "Good Morning America," and added, "I thought it was incredible that Governor Romney had nothing but a sketchy response to everything."
GOP vice-presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), appearing on "Today," was also asked about specifics in his tax plan. "Six independent studies have shown you can do exactly what we are suggesting," he said. However, no more than one of the studies is truly independent, according to Politifact. He added, "If you say to Congress take it or leave it, here's my plan, my way or the highway, you don't get things done."
Biden was also asked about his own debate performance and mannerisms, and he recommended everyone to "go back and find that 'Saturday Night Live' deal they did," and admitted that he "laughed my head off watching the guy playing me." He continued, "I wasn't going to sit there and, you know, let all these assertions go by that just simply were not accurate."
Biden also addressed questions raised by Republicans over the Obama administration's response to requests for increased security at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed there last month. At last week's vice presidential debate, Biden had asserted "we weren't told" about the requests. But a State Department official had acknowledged receiving the request during congressional testimony.
Biden said he meant that he and President Barack Obama were not personally aware of the requests. "It never got to us," Biden said.
Biden was also asked on "Today" about Romney and Obama "getting in each other's faces a little bit" in the debate. He laughed and said, "I really thought the forum was a great forum for both of them to try to make their case, and so when they were kind of circling each other, it was like, okay, come on, man, let's level with each other here."
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