Paul Ryan is apparently the latest object of Donald Trump’s ire these days. What did the former House Speaker do to become Trump’s latest target? In this case, Ryan had the audacity to say that if Trump is nominated by the GOP in 2024, that he won’t be attending the convention and pointing out how many times Republicans have lost elections with Trump sitting at the top of the party in power and popularity.
On Saturday, in an interview with ABC affiliate, WISN in Milwaukee, Ryan had this exchange with the interviewer:
WISN reporter: “For the Republican convention in Milwaukee, where will you be?”
Paul Ryan: “It depends on who the nominee is, I’ll be here if it’s somebody not named Trump. I’m not interested in participating in that, no. Even in Wisconsin.”
Ryan added that he does not believe Trump will be the GOP nominee. “The reason I don’t think he’ll be our nominee is because we know we’re going to lose with him.”
This isn’t the first time Ryan has declared his independence from all things Trump, in two other recent interviews, Ryan wasn’t shy about what he thought about Trump.
He also told Fox News 6 in Milwaukee last week: “If we nominate Trump again, we’re going to lose. It’s just that clear. We lost with him in ‘18, ’20 and ’22. We know this. He will cost us another election. So I’m just excited about somebody not named Trump.”
He also slammed Trump as a “proven loser” in an interview last Wednesday with The Washington Post. He said he’s hopeful most Republicans are ready to move beyond Trump — and his baseless election lies. “We proved in 2022 that if you run on election conspiracy theories and re-litigate the ’20 election, it’s a loser for you,” Ryan said.
Paul Ryan calling out Trump and using the word “loser” and warning his fellow Republicans that Trump has been the focal point of the party through three bad election cycles did not sit well with Trump. Of course, Trump did what Trump almost always does, and tried to flip the “loser” tag onto the former Congressman.
“Paul Ryan is a loser,” Trump said in a raging post on Truth Social. He “couldn’t get elected dogcatcher in the Republican Party!”
Trump also took his election lies to a new level claiming that he won the 2020 presidential election by a larger margin than he won in 2016. Though he won via the electoral college in the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 by nearly 3 million ballots in 2016. In 2020, He lost the popular vote by around 7 million votes.
For his part, Ryan won election after election when he served in the House from 1999 through 2019. He also was elected Speaker of the House in 2015 by his Republican peers and served in that position until he resigned from Congress. Ironically, Ryan was said to not even really want the position after John Boehner gave up the gavel — but still won. In 2018, Ryan did not run for re-election when Trump’s GOP lost control of the House.
Another problem with Trump’s argument — no one in Wisconsin is elected to the position of “dog catcher.” The position, in every state now, is an appointed one. It might also be safe to assume that if Paul Ryan wanted to be dogcatcher somewhere in Wisconsin, he still has enough political gravitas to get that appointment.
So far, it appears Paul Ryan is easily winning this feud on the facts and optics. Ryan is promoting a new book he penned which talks about the future of conservatism without Trump and all the MAGA craziness that he brought into the party.
Check out the full interview with WISN below where Ryan goes into greater detail about the future of the GOP and conservatism without Trump and his meaningless and never ending feuds …
