Feckless Paul Ryan Will Continue to Toe the Line

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | October 10, 2016 |

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | October 10, 2016 |

In a conference call this morning, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan suggested that he’d continue to toe the line where it concerns Donald Trump.

Paul Ryan won't defend Trump pic.twitter.com/07DUwBatcF

— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) October 10, 2016

In other words, he won’t campaign for Trump, but he won’t rescind his endorsement, either.

BREAKING: Paul Ryan won't defend or campaign for #Trump ahead of election. Won't rescind endorsement, though. https://t.co/w10qGXqGLI

— Evan O'Connell (@evanoconnell) October 10, 2016

NEWS: @SpeakerRyan just came back on call to clarify to angry members he is NOT unendorsing Trump

— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) October 10, 2016

Paul Ryan will pursue the most cynical line in politics: He will denounce an amoral circus act just enough to hang on to the votes of establishment Republicans but not enough to lose support from Trump’s base.

Paul Ryan doesn’t like Donald Trump. Paul Ryan probably won’t even vote for Donald Trump. To be honest, he doesn’t even need the support of Trump’s base. His Democratic challenger is not a threat in a heavily Republican district. It makes no sense for Ryan to continue with this charade.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan is all but conceding Hillary Clinton will be the next president.

— Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) October 10, 2016

And even still.

This is certainly not going to help him if he tries to run for a higher office. He’s been an endorser of Donald Trump for 129 days now — 129 days in which Donald Trump has said some vile things — and that’s going to stick to Paul Ryan for the rest of his career. In two years or four years or six years, someone is going to take that seat by reminding everyone that Paul Ryan was on the side of Trump.

The Republicans need a leader, not some feckless politician. If he pulls his endorsement, the bottom will fall out. He could be seen a hero of history, even if he has endorsed Trump for the last 129 days. Instead, this is the act of a spineless chicken shit.