Paul Ryan Says Republicans Will Lose if They Choose Donald Trump as a Nominee: “We Look Like Fools”

GOP members are slowly losing faith in their top candidate, former president Donald Trump. On September 26, Paul Ryan, a former House Speaker, joined the list of GOP members who are cautioning Republicans against making Trump the GOP nominee.

Ryan, a former Trump supporter, declared on September 26 that if Donald Trump is nominated, Republicans will lose the election and that Trump's hard-right supporters will soon demand a shutdown of the government, reported the Associated Press. Ryan, who left office in 2019 and occasionally clashed with Trump, expressed his hope that a different Republican candidate would collect enough support early in the next year to defeat Trump after the first primary. Ryan served in Congress for 20 years, the final four as House speaker, and represented southeast Wisconsin.

During a Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs event on the University of Wisconsin campus, Ryan said, "The party that puts the first fresh face forward wins this election." If the final battle comes down between Trump and current President Joe Biden, Ryan asserted, “I think Biden wins.”

“I think leaders should endeavor to be honest, ethical, moral people who try to set standards for themselves and lead by example across the country,” Ryan said. “Donald Trump doesn’t try to do any of that. He does the opposite, frankly. So I just don't think he's fit for the job here.”

Ryan asserted that in the small number of swing states, such as Wisconsin, winning over suburban voters will be crucial, and that Trump is not the appropriate candidate in those situations. “Do you think those suburban voters like Donald Trump more since Jan. 6?" Ryan said. "I mean, good grief. They didn’t vote for him this last time, they’re not going to vote for him again.”

Ryan also criticized Trump's supporters in Congress, claiming they were uninterested in governing or coming up with a plan to prevent a government shutdown. With only five days left until the deadline for a government shutdown on September 30, the Senate is attempting to prevent the shutdown as hard-right members continue to try to grab control of the House. To buy time for Congress to do its work, some senators introduced a bipartisan stopgap bill to keep offices temporarily funded through November 17.

When the previous government shutdown in 2018 lasted a record-breaking 36 days, Ryan served as speaker of the House. “There are a bunch of people who I think feel this is in their interest," Ryan said of a shutdown. "So I fear that is going to happen.”

Ryan criticized Republicans in Congress for failing to offer a substitute. “It's nihilism, is what it is,” he said. “We look like fools. We look like we can’t govern.”