House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 3, 2016.

Photo by J. Scott Applewhite/AP

For now, Paul Ryan balks at backing Trump

05/05/16 05:10 PM—Updated 05/05/16 05:16 PM

This is supposed to be the point at which the dominoes start falling. Republican officials and Capitol Hill leaders have made little effort to hide their discomfort with Donald Trump’s candidacy, but now that he’s the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, the party simply doesn’t have much of a choice. Republican voters have spoken; Trump has no more intra-party rivals.

With this in mind, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a tepid written statement last night, pledging support for Trump, despite having said just a few weeks ago that he was “optimistic” about a second ballot at the Republican National Convention that might derail Trump.

Would McConnell’s House counterpart follow suit? Not yet. NBC News reports that House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said this afternoon that he just “not ready” to throw his backing to Trump.

“I’m just not ready to do that at this point,” he said of publicly backing Trump. “I’m not there right now.”

Ryan said in an interview with CNN that he “hopes” to eventually feel ready to back Trump. “I think what is required is that we unify this party. And I think the bulk of the burden on unifying the party will have to come from our presumptive nominee.” Ryan added that Trump needs to “do more to unify this party, to bring all wings of the Republican Party together.”

This doesn’t come as too big of a surprise given the fact that the House Speaker has repeatedly felt the need to publicly denounce Trump’s more ridiculous antics.

What is curious about this is that Ryan, for months, has said he intends to back the Republican nominee – even if it’s Trump.

Revisiting our coverage from a couple of months ago, Ryan’s Trump hostility first emerged when the presidential hopeful hedged on denouncing support from white supremacists. “Today I want to be very clear about something, if a person wants to be the nominee of the Republican Party, there can be no evasion and no games, they must reject any group or cause that is built on bigotry,” the Speaker said at the time. “This party does not prey on people’s prejudices.”

And if the party’s presidential nominee does prey on people’s prejudices? Well, so be it – Ryan also said he’d support the Republican candidate no matter what.

Similarly, following unrest at several Trump rallies, the House Speaker told reporters this morning that he’s concerned about liberals disrupting political events, but Ryan added, “All candidates have an obligation to do what they can do to try and provide an atmosphere of harmony, to reduce the violence, to not incite violence and to make sure that we are appealing to people on their best ideals.”

And if the Republican candidate ignores that obligation? No matter – Ryan’s said he’s still going to vote for him.

Over and over again, the Speaker kept admonishing Trump. And over and over again, each condemnation came with the caveat that Ryan would support his party’s nominee anyway.

So, did the Speaker change his mind? Is he having a crisis of conscience? Or is the Wisconsin congressman hoping to secure some concessions from Trump in exchange for an endorsement? Or perhaps this has something to do with 2020 considerations?

Watch this space.

History tells all:

Published on May 5, 2016

Rachel Maddow looks at some past presidential candidacies by party outsiders that were not able to break through party establishment firewalls to win the nomination - until the Republican Party last night was too weak to fend off the candidacy of Donald Trump.
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Donald Trump Victory A Mark Of Historic GOP Weakness | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC

評論

TJKCB 2016-05-06 09:04:45 回複悄悄話 ? Paul Ryan's acumen - roller coaster ! - TJKCB - ♀ 給 TJKCB 發送悄悄話 TJKCB 的博客首頁 TJKCB 的個人群組 (56007 bytes) (1426 reads) 05/05/2016 14:44:53

? 原則還是要堅持。Trump不僅反Establishment, 而且反American Values! - 窗外細雨 - ♀ 給窗外細雨發送悄悄話窗外細雨的博客首頁窗外細雨的個人群組 (0 bytes) (16 reads) 05/05/2016 15:35:42

? Your comment is oxymoron - baiwen - ♂ 給 baiwen 發送悄悄話 baiwen 的博客首頁 baiwen 的個人群組 (104 bytes) (50 reads) 05/05/2016 16:10:36

? 你這篇幅也太大了，沒法看啊。建議下次搞得簡練一點 - 板凳球迷 - ♂ 給板凳球迷發送悄悄話板凳球迷的個人群組 (0 bytes) (4 reads) 05/05/2016 15:38:55

? 一樣的東西不要重複貼。 - tibuko - ♂ 給 tibuko 發送悄悄話 tibuko 的博客首頁 tibuko 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (1 reads) 05/05/2016 15:50:39

? Paul Ryan 就是想四年以後自己選 - cowpi - ♂ 給 cowpi 發送悄悄話 cowpi 的個人群組 (28 bytes) (18 reads) 05/05/2016 18:11:49

? Ryan 作為共和黨領袖，小滑頭一個，沒有一點擔當，把團結共和黨重任拋給了川普。實際上向川普喊話，讓他向建製派妥協。 - sx1992 - ♂ 給 sx1992 發送悄悄話 sx1992 的博客首頁 sx1992 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (5 reads) 05/05/2016 18:23:19

? 剛看了對Ryan的訪談 - SwiperTheFox - ♂ 給 SwiperTheFox 發送悄悄話 SwiperTheFox 的博客首頁 SwiperTheFox 的個人群組 (283 bytes) (172 reads) 05/05/2016 18:28:21 (2)

? 你放心，機會是為人創造的 - richman - ♂ 給 richman 發送悄悄話 richman 的博客首頁 richman 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (3 reads) 05/05/2016 18:49:22

? 人格? Paul Ryan 就是想四年以後自己選. 不支持大多數的選擇叫堅持原則? Trump選不上大法官就丟了 - cowpi - ♂ 給 cowpi 發送悄悄話 cowpi 的個人群組 (110 bytes) (11 reads) 05/05/2016 22:20:22

? Ryan跟establishment走得太遠陷得太深，還上了o?8的賊船了，不能自拔了 - baiwen - ♂ 給 baiwen 發送悄悄話 baiwen 的博客首頁 baiwen 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (3 reads) 05/05/2016 18:58:11

? 他前些日子不是說無論是誰支持最後勝出的nominee嗎？到底哪個是真話 - Narnar - ♀ 給 Narnar 發送悄悄話 Narnar 的個人群組 (0 bytes) (4 reads) 05/05/2016 20:44:52

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