Sitting down for a lengthy interview, a relaxed but adamant Ryan talks up ‘unity’ — but still wants the nominee to clean up his act.
On the other is the raucous, ferociously uncooperative Freedom Caucus of hard-core conservatives spooked (and befuddled) by the emergence of a presidential candidate who shares their rage but not necessarily their hard-right policy positions.
.. But the notion that the Republican House of Representatives — the problem child of GOP politics, the source of civil-war government shutdowns, an institution whose approval rating is still sub-20 percent — can be a rock of reasonable policy stability in the Trump era seems like a frozen-taffy stretch.
.. But the notion that the Republican House of Representatives — the problem child of GOP politics, the source of civil-war government shutdowns, an institution whose approval rating is still sub-20 percent — can be a rock of reasonable policy stability in the Trump era seems like a frozen-taffy stretch.
.. But the notion that the Republican House of Representatives — the problem child of GOP politics, the source of civil-war government shutdowns, an institution whose approval rating is still sub-20 percent — can be a rock of reasonable policy stability in the Trump era seems like a frozen-taffy stretch.
Paul Ryan Signals His Surrender
he framed the challenge of unifying the GOP not in terms of an accommodation between Trump and himself but between Trump and the legends of Republicanism past: Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. Trump, he said, must be “Lincoln and Reaganesque.” And since the GOP can’t abandon its patron saints, it is Trump who must alter his views.
.. Last week, when Ryan referred to the GOP as the party “of Jack Kemp,” he was saying Trump must adhere to the party’s tradition of anti-racism.
.. Ryan was signaling that Trump must end his demonization of vulnerable minority groups. He must stop calling undocumented Mexican immigrants criminals. He must stop encouraging his supporters to assault African American protesters. He must stop calling for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States.
.. But in today’s press conference, Ryan’s anti-racism language was strikingly absent.
.. He didn’t talk about treating all Americans equally and with respect. Especially given Ryan’s reference to the issue of abortion, which he mentioned twice, the Speaker could be signaling that if Trump offers robust assurances that he will appoint conservatives to the bench, that will constitute unity enough. Kemp-style inclusion be damned.
.. He’s an ambitious Republican politician who saw what happened to Marco Rubio, another up-and-coming darling of the GOP elite who incurred the wrath of the nationalist right. And so, in his press conference today, by abandoning the rhetorical framework he outlined last week, Ryan began the process of surrender.
Paul Ryan is stuck in a Trump trap
Lining up with Trump is a major risk to Ryan’s brand — but not endorsing the presumptive nominee could alienate the grassroots.
“Paul doesn’t want to be an issue; we need to beat Hillary Clinton — that’s the issue here,” said South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney, a leader in the House Freedom Caucus. “Any high ranking Republican — whether Paul Ryan, Reince Priebus or Jeb Bush — that says they’re not supporting nominee? They have some hard questions to answer about why they’re a Republican.”
.. The difficulty for Ryan is that Trump, by his own admission, is incredibly malleable on policy. So the speaker has to appeal to Trump on a visceral level, and the real estate magnate has used identity politics and unpopular political strategy to fuel his ascent. Banning Muslims from the U.S. and playing footsie with white supremacists need to stop, Ryan has said publicly. But Trump has shown no willingness to temper that talk.
From Ryan, a Reminder to Trump of the Stakes for the G.O.P.
It was also perhaps a vain attempt to control the uncontrollable by letting Mr. Trump know that the campaign was not only about him and to make clear he had some responsibility to come to terms with down-ballot candidates on explosive issues like immigration and trade.
“The bulk of the burden on unifying the party will have to come from our presumptive nominee,” Mr. Ryan, the highest elected Republican official in the nation, said in an interview on CNN
.. “It’s time to set aside bullying, to set aside belittlement and appeal to higher aspirations, appeal to what is good in us and to lead a country and a party to having a vast majority of Americans enthusiastic about choosing a path,” Mr. Ryan said in the CNN interview.
.. “He’s the embodiment of everything Americans hate about a system that’s rigged for the top 1 percent,” Mr. Reid said of Mr. Trump during a conference call with reporters. “He’s the definition of a man who was born on third and thinks he hit a triple. What’s worse, he uses his wealth to rip people off and is now sowing hatred and division every place he steps.”
.. In addition, the seats most in play this year are those of the less conservative House Republicans in more vulnerable districts, meaning the speaker could enter 2017 with a smaller but even more conservative majority, making it even harder to strike compromises.
.. And Mr. Trump has spoken favorably about Mr. Ryan’s top lieutenant, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the majority leader.