Paul Ryan Endorses Donald Trump Shocking Close Allies
House Speaker Paul Ryan finally endorsed Donald Trump today, writing in a column for a Wisconsin newspaper that he would be voting for the Republican nominee in November.
Paul Ryan made headlines nearly a month ago when he declined to endorse Donald Trump, stating that he was “not there yet” and would not endorse the then-Republican presumptive nominee. Since then, Trump has secured the number of delegates required to make it official, he’s the Republican nominee, and Paul Ryan has reportedly changed his mind on the bellicose billionaire, reports the Washington Post.
“It’s a question of how to move ahead on the ideas that I – and my House colleagues – have invested so much in through the years. It’s not just a choice of two people, but of two visions for America,” wrote Speaker Paul Ryan.
Ryan spoke at length about Donald Trump in the month since his non-endorsement. The press pushed Ryan to elaborate on precisely what it was about Donald Trump that didn’t inspire confidence that Trump could unite the Republican Party. The questions were so invasive that Paul Ryan requested People Magazine not ask him about Trump at all in a recent interview.
Breaking: Paul Ryan says he will vote for Donald Trump in the general election https://t.co/cJRL0RjtZX
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) June 2, 2016
Paul Ryan has since met with Trump in person — he’s reportedly spoken with the embattled real estate billionaire on numerous occasions. And while the two Republican Party leaders still have differences Ryan, for his part, has put them aside to formally endorse Donald Trump.
“Through these conversations, I feel confident he would help us turn the ideas in this agenda into laws to help improve people’s lives. That’s why I’ll be voting for him this fall,” Ryan wrote in his hometown newspaper, the Gazette.
Paul Ryan has publicly feuded with Trump in the past, airing his disagreements with the Republican nominee earlier this year, when Trump made some of his more controversial statements – particularly when he suggested banning Muslims from entering the United States.
“It’s no secret that he and I have our differences. I won’t pretend otherwise. And when I feel the need to, I’ll continue to speak my mind. But the reality is on the issues that make up our agenda, we have more common ground than disagreement,” wrote Speaker Paul Ryan today.
Hillary Clinton aide says Paul Ryan "never had the backbone" to stand up to Trump. https://t.co/0CEOoshUtp pic.twitter.com/cLcGVRFN5X
— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) June 2, 2016
While the Paul Ryan Trump endorsement was reportedly inevitable, the other Republican congressional leaders have all fallen in line, it comes as a surprise to some of Ryan’s closest colleagues. Ryan allies characterize the House Speaker as the “antithesis” of Donald Trump – the introspective, analytical opposite to Trump’s loud, brash, and off-the-cuff style.
“Paul Ryan in many ways is the antithesis of Donald Trump; he’s everything that Donald Trump is not. He’s a decent human being. He is conservative. He is steeped in public policy. He cares about ideas. He’s a person who conducts himself with civility and grace in public life. He doesn’t put down his opponents,” said Peter Wehner, a former policy aide to George W. Bush.
Paul Ryan wasn’t shy about discussing his differences with Donald Trump. In the Gazette article, Ryan goes on to describe that he won’t always agree with the Republican nominee, but he finds more in common with Trump than he does with Hillary Clinton. Ryan had some tough words for Hillary Clinton, claiming that a Clinton presidency would create a federal government “out for itself.”
“A Clinton White House would mean four more years of liberal cronyism and a government more out for itself than the people it serves. Quite simply, she represents all that our agenda aims to fix,” wrote Speaker Paul Ryan for his hometown newspaper the Gazette.
[Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images]
