Paul Ryan Threatened By GOP To Support Donald Trump, Meeting Set For Today
Speaker Paul Ryan is being threatened by House Republicans to throw his support behind presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump. Ryan will be meeting with Trump today to discuss his views on Republican issues.
Paul Ryan met with House Republicans on Wednesday morning, where they urged the speaker to support Donald Trump. Paul Ryan very publicly said on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper that he wasn’t ready to endorse Trump.
Trump to meet with top GOP leaders including Speaker Paul Ryan, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. https://t.co/oYnOZe5NXc pic.twitter.com/wLYY8Y4pxN
— ABC News (@ABC) May 12, 2016
Idaho Republican and conservative House Freedom Caucus leader, Raul Labrador explained that Paul Ryan’s unwillingness to back Trump “makes it harder to unite” the GOP, reported CNN.
Paul Ryan told CNN’s Jake Tapper last Thursday that he wasn’t ready to support potential GOP nominee Donald Trump until he would bring “all wings of the Republican Party and the conservative movement” together and create a campaign that would allow Americans to “have something that they’re proud to support and proud to be a part of.”
Speaker Paul Ryan’s statement angered many House Republicans. In a report done by CNN, Nevada Republican Mark Amodei went far enough to accuse Ryan of creating a divide amongst the House.
“Ryan goes out on CNN and says it’s Donald Trump’s duty to unite the party…So Mr. Speaker, what’s your job regarding unity?”
Still, Paul Ryan brushed off the concerns of fellow Republicans claiming that pretending to be unified behind a candidate will only create more of a divide amongst their party. Ryan believes too much is at stake in this election to take such a course of action.
“This election is too important to go into an election at half-strength.”
Paul Ryan had many House Republicans agreeing with his stance at the start of the election. Still, over time, Trump had made his way to the top, becoming the presumptive GOP nominee.
.@SpeakerRyan has a decision to make https://t.co/cDcKc6sGCh | Getty pic.twitter.com/f76IrASTw9
— POLITICO (@politico) May 12, 2016
House Republicans also asked Paul Ryan on Wednesday to “to raise policy priorities they have championed when he sits down with Trump,” today. In meeting with Donald Trump, the Republicans want Ryan to cover the potential GOP nominee’s stances on abortion, budget, and spending issues and changes to Medicare and Social Security, wrote CNN. Fellow Republicans also told Speaker Paul Ryan to warn Trump against making superfluous statements such as implying that riots would take place if he weren’t given the GOP nomination.
Now that Donald Trump is presumptive GOP nominee, exit polls showing greater party unity. https://t.co/vINhM6jsW5 pic.twitter.com/Ae8W4igFZT
— ABC News (@ABC) May 10, 2016
Some House Republicans continue to be utterly confused by Donald Trump’s antics and stances on many issues. North Carolina GOP Republican Walter Jones expressed his thoughts on this issue after Wednesday’s meeting with Paul Ryan, according to CNN.
“Mr. Trump has different positions and they change every so often, so we try to figure out where we’re going.”
Due to Donald Trump’s constant change in opinions, Jones slightly sympathizes with Paul Ryan’s decision to take time in deciding whether not to support the presumptive GOP nominee. Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole told CNN that he’s willing to wait for Ryan.
“This looks to me like one of those political dances that ends up OK in the end. But you do have to go through the dance, and there’s always a chance for a misstep.”
Although many House Republicans aren’t necessarily thrilled with the idea of supporting Donald Trump, Arizona GOP Republican Trent Franks feels that he would rather have chaos within the Republican Party than “Hillary Clinton bringing destruction to this Constitution.”
[Photo By Alex Wong/Getty Images]
