Who Did Paul Ryan Vote For? House Speaker Reluctantly Admits Choice For President

Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan appeared on Fox & Friends earlier today where he reluctantly admitted to the hosts who he cast his ballot for in early presidential voting.

Who did Paul Ryan vote for? When asked by Steve Doocy, the Republican replied that he voted for the party’s leader.

“I stand where I’ve stood all fall and all summer,” Ryan stated. “I already voted, here in Janesville, for our nominee, last week in early voting. We need to support our entire Republican ticket.”

Paul Ryan, described by Vanity Fair in May as being the “most powerful” Republican in the United States, has continually distanced himself from Donald Trump. By October, the Ryan-Trump feud had reached the point of the Washington Post reporting that the speaker would “not campaign with or defend” the nominee in the finals weeks leading up to the November 8 election.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLE7pkYmz3o

Back in May, Donald Trump campaign surrogate Katrina Pierson said that Paul Ryan wasn’t “fit to be speaker.” Around the same time, Trump took issue with Ryan describing the nominee’s primary win as him having “inherited something very special.” Donald Trump made sure that his Twitter followers understood his belief that he had inherited nothing and that he “won it with millions of voters!”

Paul Ryan said that I inherited something very special, the Republican Party. Wrong, I didn't inherit it, I won it with millions of voters!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 6, 2016

Appearing on Fox & Friends this morning, House Speaker Ryan appeared to attempt to not even utter the Republican nominee’s name, instead appearing to choose to pivot to attacks against Democratic nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and words of support for House Republicans.

“This is what life with the Clintons looks like,” Ryan said. “It’s always a scandal, one after another. Then there’s an investigation.”

Ryan stated that the Clintons live “beyond the rules” and that their leadership results in states in which the public has no idea “what’s coming next.” He described former President Bill Clinton and Hillary as working the U.S. political system for the benefit of “Clinton Inc.”

House Speaker Ryan encouraged all Republicans to vote.

Steve Doocy pressed Paul Ryan, seemingly attempting to get him to say Donald Trump’s name, repeating his understanding that the most powerful Republican was encouraging all voters, “anybody who will listen,” to vote for Donald Trump.

Ryan was demure, agreeing that he was behind the “entire Republican ticket” and that his focus was on maintaining the Republican majority in the House of Representatives. He stated that he was traveling to Indiana, New York, Virginia, and Michigan, today, in support of Republican members of Congress.

The speaker again turned to Hillary Clinton, urging voters not to allow the Democrat to bring her “scandal baggage” into the White House.

Ainsley Earhardt noted that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was campaigning with Donald Trump in Ryan’s home state today and asked the Republican if he would be joining them.

Appearing reluctant to discuss Donald Trump, whatsoever, but determined to be gracious, Ryan was again demure, stating that he only learned of the event “about 10 minutes ago.” He repeated his schedule for the day, helping Republican House representatives defend battleground states.

Earhardt asked Ryan directly if anything had changed and if there was any chance he might appear with Donald Trump in the final days before the election, which caused a slight physical response, perhaps of exasperation, from the highly visible Republican.

“No, I haven’t changed anything,” Paul Ryan answered, again refusing to address Donald Trump directly, or even say his name.

Talk then turned to Speaker Ryan’s plan to replace Obamacare and recent rate increases in the controversial health-care plan.

When asked how his plan would jibe with Donald Trump’s, Speaker Ryan may have forgotten, if he was in fact attempting to refrain from uttering his name, referring to the nominee as “Donald,” and stating that extensive talks have been conducted, leading to the two plans being “one and the same.”

Paul Ryan went on to state that on a long list of policy issues, the plans of House Republicans and Donald Trump share many similarities.

[Featured Image by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]