For a brief moment last month, Wisconsinites’ respect for House Speaker Paul Ryan spiked upward for showing some courage and integrity when he said that he was not ready to endorse Donald Trump when he became the presumptive nominee. This also left the door open to the possibility that Ryan might never be ready.
Ryan’s apparent hesitation didn’t seem to be due to Trump displaying a level of racism, sexism and schoolyard bullying totally inappropriate for any upstanding American, let alone someone who is running for the most powerful position in the world. Nor did Ryan seem to be bothered by Trump’s fawning over various dictators like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, or by Trump’s uninformed comments on our foreign relations and diplomacy that causes fears among both Republicans and Democrats that he could get us into a war—and possibly a nuclear war—simply because someone insulted him. Rather, Ryan seemed to be troubled by Trump’s positions on the issues. To the degree that anyone can figure them out, Trump’s take on the issues are in many cases diametrically opposed to those of Ryan, who, if nothing else, has championed himself as an extreme free market purist and devout follower of Ayn Rand.
Unfortunately, that respect for Paul Ryan was short lived. Last Thursday, Ryan quietly endorsed Trump in the Janesville Gazette rather than The New York Times or the Washington Post only to have to be very critical of Trump the next day for trying to intimidate a federal judge. When you are in a positon like Paul Ryan is in—second in line for the presidency after the vice president if something would happen to the president—your endorsement matters. He is the highest-ranking Republican in the country so he is not only putting his personal integrity but the integrity of the Republican Party on the line. Some mainstream Republicans are disappointed or angry that the leader of the party they have supported their whole lives has sacrificed principles and integrity for his personal ambition.
Ryan is being challenged in his congressional re-election bid by Paul Nehlen, a conservative businessman from Delavan. Ryan is concerned about fending off this primary challenge so he won’t suffer the fate of former Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who lost his primary election two years ago to a poorly funded first-time candidate who came at him from the right. So in his efforts to placate the right wing of his right-wing party, Ryan just sold out the principles of the Republican Party to a reality TV show host and ethically challenged businessman.
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Now Ryan can no longer separate himself from Donald Trump and his dubious positions and policies. Ryan can step back from or criticize some of Trump’s positions, but he won’t be able to do that every day or his endorsement becomes a total joke. We had many months and many debates to watch and learn who Mr. Trump is, so we can assume that Paul Ryan knew what he was doing personally and what he was doing to the Republican Party when he made his endorsement. Now, for the next five months Paul Ryan has to live with the consequences.
