Emerging from two years of relative silence, former House Speaker Paul Ryan joined the fight against Donald Trump on Thursday, urging fellow conservatives to reject the former president’s divisive politics and those Republican leaders who emulate him.
Ryan made his remarks during an evening address 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.
“It was horrifying to see a presidency come to such a dishonorable and disgraceful end,” Ryan said, referring to the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol that Trump inspired on Jan. 6.
“Once again, we conservatives find ourselves at a crossroads,” Ryan continued. “And here’s the reality that we have to face: 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.”
President Trump Responds:
RINO Paul Ryan, who became a lame duck Speaker of the House, lost all vote-getting capability with the people he represented in Wisconsin, and was the single biggest factor, other than Romney himself, for the monumental Romney/Ryan loss in the Presidential race of 2012 (I got more votes by far, 75M, than any sitting president in history!), and he is now speaking to other Republicans telling them how to win elections. Interestingly, I was in the Great State of Wisconsin when they booed him off the podium—I literally had to come to his rescue.
Read more From the Desk of Donald J. Trump
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.
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Hear Ryaan’s speech for yourself.
One of Trump’s most vocal allies on Capitol Hill, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., lashed out at Ryan on Twitter ahead of the speech.
“It really is amazing 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,” she said, adding a shot at another Trump critic, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. “Paul, the problem is you and your pal Liz.”
Ryan spoke Thursday as the opening speaker for the Reagan library’s “Time for Choosing” series, which will later feature 2024 Republican presidential prospects such as former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Those close to Ryan, 51, do not expect him to run for public office again, but they suggest he is paying close attention and remains concerned about the future of the party. The Wisconsin Republican also sits on the board of Fox Corp., which owns Fox News.
In his remarks, Ryan described President Joe Biden’s agenda as “more leftist than any president in my lifetime” and warned of exploding federal spending under the Democrats who control Washington. He lamented the GOP’s interest in culture wars and “identity politics” at the expense of conservative principles.
“Culture matters, absolutely yes, but our party must be defined by more than a tussle over the latest grievance or perceived slight,” he said. “We must not let them take priority over solutions — grounded in principle — to improve people’s lives.”
The Republican Party has an opportunity to win elections and address critical policy challenges, as long as they don’t get in their own way, Ryan continued.
“If we fail this test, it will be because the progressive left will have won by default,” he said. “It will be because the conservative cause … lost its way and followed the left into the trap of identity politics, defining itself by resentments instead of by ideals. It will be because we mistake reactionary skirmishes in the culture wars with a coherent agenda. It will be because we gave too much allegiance to one passing political figure and weren’t loyal enough to our principles.”
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Screw you, GOPUSA! You do not represent true Republicans. You continually twist things to throw disrespect on our President Trump by referring to things allegedly attributed to him as his actual fault. I will have nothing to do with you in the future.
Ryan is just latest disgruntled “false flag” Repub to prove that for decades Repub voters have had no voice or political representation until Trump came along.
USA & it’s citizens are being subjected to wanton criminal lawlessness, influx of mass foreign migration, political oppression, censorship & economic ruin at the hands of a terroristic radicalized Dem Party.
We millions of citizens will no longer tolerate or listen to anyone browbeat us with fatuous lectures & speeches demanding us to hate America & ourselves for supporting Trump America First policies when we are on the brink of economic ruin & civil war due to the Dem Party Marxist / Islam type tyranny & dictatorship takeover of govt, military, education & healthcare.
John Baynner, Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, Mike Pence–treasonists ALL. Any pathetic RINO’s left in the republican party after’22 and I’m OUT. The repub party has wasted the past thirteen years of my tax dollars with focused devotion on aiding & abetting the commucrats in destroying America. They need to be imprisoned if not worse.
These days, it may be easier to list the ACTUAL conservatives remaining, in the GOP. Rather than listing out the traitorous scumbags like Pence, mccain, Romey etc…
This #1 RINO who gave Repub voters NOTHING after they provided a Republican Congress and President is not ashamed to show his traitorous face because he thinks his side (the Left) is in the ascendancy now. So he slithers out from under his rock to continue his betrayal of the Republic by lecturing those fighting to save it. If there’s one thing worse than a RINO it’s one who has the chutzpah to lecture conservatives.
RYAN WAS NOTHING BUT A TOTAL LIBTURD DIMOCRAT. HE WAS NEVER A “RINO””. AND HOW HE ACTUALLY BECAME SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE IS BEYOND ANY REASONABLE THINKING OF HOW HE ACCOMPLISHED THAT. AND HE IS ALSO A “BIG SHOT” AT FOX STATION. THAT IS THE REASON THAT FOX IS NOT AS CONSERVATIVE AS THEY USED TO BE, AND ONE OF THE REASONS THAT SOME GOOD PEOPLE AT FOX LEFT.
Just crawl back under your rock you pathetic spineless RINO.
with an HONEST SPEAKER and CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP in the house:
The wall would have been completed.
The house would not have been lost in the midterms and the senate would have been rock solid.
China would not be the threat it is today, not would russia.
Iran would probably be a FREE Nation today with a little help to the People there.
covid would have never been created and released on command by fauci. (2015 speech)
2020 would have never happened.
The ‘deep state’ would be uprooted and severely damaged…
But NOOOOooo
We had ryan BLOCKING EVERY MOVE PRESIDENT TRUMP TRIED.
NOT just him, but every other damn rino too..
Boehner, Romney, Ryan–traitors all. For the last thirteen years all the repub RINO’s have devoted their time and our tax dollars to aiding, abetting and obeying Obozo and the commucrats in fundamentally destroying America. No hope now.
In my humble opinion, Paul Ryan is a weak punk. Ryan, should not be listened too, or considered in anyway.
He needs to go away.
If Ryan is in anyway is connected to any media sources, this too should be scrutinized with a critical mind. Let’s face it governments are whole evil in many ways. We have people that never worked a day in their lives, trying to tell us what is going on in those same lives.
What do these jive, continuous lying characters do? They promise you with (free) stuff without having the means to do what they promise. And the funds come from who, you and me the tax payers. Unfortunately there is a number of our people that believe the smiling face, oh shucks deliveries of these deceitful personalities.
Sorry for the rant, I don’t understand what’s happening to this country, what is being taught, where the values have gone? Playing with diseases, or should I say working with diseases to do what? Think about it, these Globalists are evil in their very ideas. We have world history to refer to and consider, critical thinking my friends, take a 50,000′ look at what is going on.
Pray and keep the faith.
Hey Pauly, is a little too early for your ‘triumphant return’. I for one haven’t missed you and I’m probably not alone…
RINO Ryan is either so stupid he can’t see a voter change when its happening or he’s a swamp creature you needs to fight change to preserve himself. Pathetic Arnold Benedict who has dishonored himself and disgraced his own name. He’s done, finished, over-cooked! ALL POLITICIANS SHOULD NOT BE PAID ONE DIME AFTER LEAVING OFFICE!