GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan called in to Sean Hannity’s radio show  on Wednesday and attacked Vice President Joe Biden, claiming that his recent 'chains' comment was a 'desperate' attempt to save what he called a flailing campaign.

Biden had accused GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney of pursuing a top down economic agenda that would put the middle class 'back in chains.' He later clarified that he was making reference to the frequently used Republican phrase about their desire to 'unshackle' the private sector.

But according to the Huffington Post Ryan was unpersuaded by Biden's explanation.

'You know, these are the kinds of things you say when you're desperate in a campaign,' he told Sean Hannity on Fox News Radio.

'I think you're going to hear more of these things as we go on because they have a terrible record, they can't run on it, so they're going to kind of sink this campaign to these low levels to try and distract people, to try and you know, stoke the emotions of fear and envy.'

Republicans hope to keep their two candidates budget and personal tax controversies out of the headlines so they're coordinating an effort to keep Biden's in play, but Democrats have scoffed at what they call a 'faux outrage'  to stop the public from discussing Romney and Ryan's budget plans and other issues.

President Obama told People magazine on Wednesday that Biden's comments were just that days news cycle, an opportunity for the media to fixate on for twenty four hours.

'The truth is that during the course of these campaigns, folks like to get obsessed with how something was phrased even if everybody personally understands that's not how it was meant. That's sort of the nature of modern campaigns and modern coverage of campaigns. But I tell you, when I'm traveling around Iowa, that's not what's on people's minds,' the president concluded.