Trump’s views of Muslims in the US have reemerged as a campaign issue since Khizr Khan, the father of a slain US Muslim soldier, took the stage at the Democratic convention last week, and have led to turmoil inside the GOP and his own campaign. Ryan doesn’t represent the people of Wisconsin. He went on to express praise for race opponent Paul Nehlen, who has called Ryan a “soulless globalist”.
Advertisement
Ryan has raised almost $15 million for his campaign, while Nehlen has generated less than $1 million, according to Politico.
Ryan endorsed Trump on June 2 after weeks of much-publicized reluctance and deliberation, and only after it was clear the NY billionaire was likely to be the party’s standard-bearer. Trump later declined to endorse Ryan, although Ryan said Thursday he still supports Trump, despite some sharp language distancing himself from the Republican nominee. The Republicans who like Ryan aren’t changing their minds.
“We will have disagreements, but we will disagree as friends and never stop working together toward victory”, Trump said. “Refusing to cut ties with Trump could potentially tarnish the GOP label for years to come”. “If Trump wins, it’s not really a Republican victory, so to say”. That’s been an area of disagreement between Ryan and Trump.
He acknowledged, though, that there could be a point at which he withdraws his endorsement of Trump. Yet the truth is that outside influences, money and Trump’s bullying will not swing the state’s Republican primary vote.
Ryan’s primary challenge is drawing national attention.
And it’s paying off. Charles Franklin, who heads the highly respected Marquette University Law School poll, said Ryan’s approval rating among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents in his district is about 80 percent.
He recently held an immigration protest outside Ryan’s family’s home, and has accused Ryan of supporting the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. “He is the top elected Republican in the country right now”, Nehlen said.
“I’m not going to go into the hypothetical”, Ryan said, repeating that his endorsement of Trump is not a “blank check.” “Sorry, you created Donald Trump, all of you because of your ineffectiveness, because of your weakness, your spinelessness, your lack of vision, your inability to fight Obama”.
Advertisement
“We don’t have the votes to pass it, because people like me have problems with some significant provisions of it, that we believe need to get fixed”, said Speaker Ryan.
