Emerging from two years of relative silence, former House Speaker Paul Ryan has now joined the fight against Donald Trump, urging fellow conservatives to reject the former president’s divisive politics and those Republican leaders who emulate him.
During a Thursday evening address Ryan made his remarks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. He was critical of both Republicans and Democrats, though he saved his sharpest barbs for Trump, who is by most measures the leader of the modern-day Republican Party.
Referring to the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol that Trump inspired on Jan 6,Ryan commented that this was horrifying to see a presidency come to such a dishonorable and disgraceful end. He also added that “if the conservative cause depends on the populist appeal of one personality, or on second-rate imitations, then we’re not going anywhere. Voters looking for Republican leaders want to see independence and mettle. They will not be impressed by the sight of yes-men and flatterers flocking to Mar-a-Lago.”It’s unclear how much impact Ryan’s words will have in the broader fight for the future of the GOP, if any.
Ryan, the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee, was among the most respected Republicans in the nation’s capital before Trump’s rise, but two years out of office, his open contempt for Trump is not in line with the vast majority of Republican voters and elected officials.
A tiny but growing group of anti-Trump Republicans has struggled to steer the party in a new direction, even as Trump continues to promote the same false claims that he would have won the 2020 election if not for mass voter fraud that inspired the Capitol insurrection. At the same time, Trump is openly contemplating another presidential run in 2024.
It really is surprising that Paul Ryan, who is the reason the GOP lost the House in 2018, is going to come out today and blame Trump for the problems in the GOP.
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