Paul Ryan and Donald Trump have only sometimes seen eye to eye. Despite Ryan being the Speaker of the House who passed Trump’s signature policies, the once vice presidential candidate has been a major critic over the past few years.
Earlier in the week, Ryan, now a board member at Fox News, once again laid into the GOP frontrunner.
Mediaite writes that the former Speaker of the House believes that Trump is “the establishment” now and should act like it.
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan described himself as “an anti-establishment Republican” on Tuesday while defending himself from accusations of being a “RINO” on Fox News.
During an appearance on Fox News’ Your World, Ryan tore into former President Donald Trump, prompting host Neil Cavuto to shoot back, “Well, he doesn’t like you either.”
Cavuto then confronted Ryan – who, as the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee, has long been seen by Trump supporters as a face of the Republican establishment – with a post Trump made calling him a “loser” and “a pathetic RINO [Republican in Name Only].”
He concluded, “I have no personal animus towards the man. I think he got railroaded in this New York case, I don’t want to see him go to jail, I don’t have any personal animosity, I just don’t think he should be president.”
Paul Ryan responds to Trump calling him a “pathetic RINO”:
“I’m a conservative Republican. Trump is a populist. He’s not a conservative. I would prefer a party that is based on principles not personality or populism.”pic.twitter.com/pmi9xAjzFL
— The American Conservative (@amconmag) June 11, 2024
Ryan also tore into Trump for “putting himself above the Constitution” and blamed Trump for recent Republican losses.
“He’s cost us a lot of seats,” Ryan said. “He cost us the Senate twice. He cost us the House because he is nominating, he is pushing through the primaries people who cannot win general elections but who pledge fealty to him.”
Ryan said he doesn’t support President Joe Biden either, claiming that voters have been given “terrible choices” for the upcoming election.
“In a country with 350 million people, this is the choice we have?” Ryan said. “I, like the majority of Americans, wish we had a different choice.”
