Is Trump guaranteed the win in 2020’s election? Certainly not, according to Paul Ryan.
During a lecture in Vero Beach, FL on Monday, Paul Ryan warned Republicans that some Democrat nominees stand a good chance at defeating Trump in 2020. He criticized Trump, stating that he needs to focus more on his policies than his image in order to boost his chances for re-election.
Though Ryan’s outlook could have been intended as constructive criticism, many have expressed their disapproval in response to reading the story from Breitbart News.
Perhaps this is because of Ryan and Trump's rocky relationship, which the Breitbart article gave more detail on.
Ryan retired from the House in January after serving three years as the chamber’s speaker. Under his watch, Republicans lost a House majority in the 2018 midterm election.
President Trump and Ryan have had an uneasy relationship. In an interview with the Daily Caller, the president blamed Ryan for failing to help secure funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
“Well, I was going to veto the omnibus bill and Paul told me in the strongest of language, ‘Please don’t do that, we’ll get you the wall.’ And I said, ‘I hope you mean that, because I don’t like this bill,'” the president told the outlet.
“Paul told me in the strongest of terms that, ‘Please sign this and if you sign this we will get you that wall.’ Which is desperately needed by our country. Humanitarian crisis, trafficking, drugs, you know, everything — people, criminals, gangs, so, you know, we need the wall,” he added. “And then he went lame duck.”
Breitbart News published October 2016 audio of Ryan vowing to never defend President Trump following the release of the Access Hollywood tape. “His comments are not anywhere in keeping with our party’s principles and values,” Ryan said. “There are basically two things that I want to make really clear, as for myself as your Speaker. I am not going to defend Donald Trump—not now, not in the future. As you probably heard, I disinvited him from my first congressional district GOP event this weekend—a thing I do every year. And I’m not going to be campaigning with him over the next 30 days,” Ryan said during a conference call with Republican lawmakers.
Ryan was the vice presidential candidate for Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-UT) failed 2012 White House bid.
Western Journal has more on the whole story.
Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who stepped down at the end of 2018, spoke in Vero Beach, Florida, as part of the Riverside Theatre’s Distinguished Lecturer Series. It was one of his first public appearances since leaving Congress.
Ryan said some Democrats could defeat Trump next year, but he did not name names.
More than a dozen Democrats either have announced they are running for president or are in the process of considering a race.
In order to win, Ryan said, Trump needs to implement policies and not hope for victory on the strength of his style.
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