As the total meltdown of Republican presidential candidate Trump continues, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis) finds himself in uncharted territory.
BREAKING: Spkr. Paul Ryan tells House Republicans that he won't defend Trump, will focus remainder of election on keeping majority -Politico
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) October 10, 2016
The Speaker of the House has never been a big fan of his party’s nominee, Donald Trump. He was very hesitant to endorse his party’s choice, fearing that Trump’s background and lack of civility would make him a dangerous choice for President.
It wasn’t until June 2 that Ryan was willing to come forward and give his public endorsement. When it looked like Trump would win the nomination, Ryan swallowed his misgivings and jumped on Trump’s bandwagon.
When a tape of Donald Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women became public last week, Ryan reacted quickly.
The two men had been scheduled to campaign together for the very first time since Trump’s nomination. After learning about the tape, however, Ryan wiggled out of his commitment and uninvited the presidential candidate from the event. He said this about the situation:
“I am sickened by what I heard today. Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified. I hope Mr. Trump treats this situation with the seriousness it deserves and works to demonstrate to the country that he has greater respect for women than this clip suggests.”
There was at least a little bit of panic in there as the Speaker tried desperately to find his footing on the slippery deck of Trump’s sinking ship.
Over the next few days, one key Republican after another pulled away from Trump. Endorsements were withdrawn, one after the other. Things were looking mighty grim for the Grand Old Party.
So the Speaker scheduled a big conference phone call with House Republicans for this morning, after the second debate. He needed to figure out what the hell to do about Trump.
If Ryan had been hoping that Trump would suddenly emerge as a reasonable leader, he was disappointed. If he had kept his fingers crossed for a huge error on the part of the Democratic presidential candidate, he was definitely let down.
So when the phone call took place this morning, Paul Ryan was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he keeps up his support of Trump, he will most likely have to pay for that later, when history looks back at this campaign. If he withdraws completely, that would pretty much be an admission that the race is over a month before we vote.
Ryan decided to deflect, like so many of Trump’s surrogates lately.
BREAKING– @SpeakerRyan tells house republicans he won't defend trump and will focus the next 29 days on keeping the house majority.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 10, 2016
Although he hasn’t officially pulled his endorsement from Donald Trump, Ryan has made it clear that he will be using his time and energy to focus on keeping the House of Representatives in the hands of the Republican Party.
He told his members that they had to make sure that Secretary Hillary Clinton doesn’t get a “blank check.” That of course implies that he expects Clinton to win the White House.
He told his members that they need to “do what is best for you.” He is determined to hang onto the House, to prevent Democrats from taking the White House as well as the House and possibly the Senate.
Ryan seems determined to keep his distance from Trump.
Yeah, good luck with that, Mr. Speaker! You are on record has having endorsed the man who brags about sexual assault. You’ve known for a long time that he is a lying, sleazy, cheating, ignorant egomaniac. It’s too late to pretend you were never on his team.
Featured image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr. Available through Creative Commons Attribution Generic License 2.0
