Paul Ryan Wanted To ‘Scold’ Donald Trump Because He Didn’t Know About Government
Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan reportedly wanted to “scold” President Donald Trump due to his lack of knowledge about the functions of government, per a Thursday report from The Washington Post.
According to The Washington Post report, Ryan shared these thoughts with Politico’s Tim Alberta, who is about to publish a book about the Trump presidency.
“I told myself I gotta have a relationship with this guy to help him get his mind right,” Ryan said, according to The Washington Post. “Because, I’m telling you, he didn’t know anything about government.?.?. I wanted to scold him all the time.”
The book, of which The Washington Post obtained an advance copy, details Ryan’s general frustration with the 45th president.
Ryan reportedly told Alberta that he believes the Trump presidency will only get worse, as the president continues to refuse to listen to advice from fellow Republicans who advise him to moderate his message and actions. The book says the Ryan took a retirement from his position in Congress as an “escape hatch” from the Trump administration.
The book reportedly details a specific instance where Ryan was awoken by news of a Trump tweet in 2017 that claimed former President Barack Obama tapped his phones during his campaign for president, according to The Washington Post. Ryan’s first reaction was to laugh about the tweet.
Guess what! *Now* Paul Ryan, in an interview for a book, says @realDonaldTrump is a self-absorbed, know-nothing, moral miscreant who shouldn’t be president. Ryan is a true profile in courage. https://t.co/vrP1hDUw3T
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) July 11, 2019
According to a Thursday report from Business Insider, a previously-published excerpt of the book detailed an instance where Ryan urged then-RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to replace Trump as the 2016 presidential nominee and ban him from the Republican party after the now infamous Access Hollywood tapes of Trump joking about assaulting women.
Ryan and Trump had a rocky relationship when the two worked together from 2017 to 2019, though the relationship was likely more productive than the one Trump has with current speaker of the house, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who assumed the role in January of this year.
Just this week, Pelosi sparred with Trump over his insistence that the 2020 U.S. Census include a question about a person’s citizenship status, as per The New York Post, accusing the president of having an agenda to “Make American White Again.”
The forthcoming book details more than just the president’s interactions with the former speaker of the house. Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan reportedly told Alberta in 2016 that he wished Congress would have acted differently to prevent a Trump presidency, though as The Washington Post noted, Jordan now regularly defends Trump on Fox News appearances.
The book, American Carnage, is due out on Tuesday.
