Trump Camp Stunned by Paul Ryan's Diss

Speaker 'just not ready' to support presumptive nominee
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 6, 2016 1:23 AM CDT
Updated May 6, 2016 6:35 AM CDT
Trump Camp Stunned by Paul Ryan's Diss
The GOP can't get a Lincoln or a Reagan every time, but "Lincoln- and Reagan-esque" would be good, Ryan said.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Donald Trump has promised to unite the GOP, but it appears he still has some work to do. On Thursday, the highest-ranking elected Republican in the land stunned the Trump campaign by saying he is "just not ready" to support him, Politico reports. "I'm not there right now," House Speaker Paul Ryan told CNN's Jake Tapper, adding that he wants Trump to unite "all wings of the Republican Party and the conservative movement" and run a campaign Americans will be "proud to support and proud to be a part of." The rebuke from Ryan—who had previously pledged to support whomever the party's nominee was—surprised even some of his allies, the Washington Post reports.

The diss was the "starkest evidence yet" of how much damage top congressional Republicans fear Trump could do to their majorities—and a reminder that Ryan is still believed to have future White House ambitions of his own, which could be wrecked by getting too close to Trump, the New York Times notes. Ryan's comments were cheered by some House and Senate Republicans and denounced by others, reports the Hill, which calls the deepening divide a "GOP civil war." Trump responded to the remarks by saying he "isn't ready" for Ryan and his agenda. "Perhaps in the future we can work together and come to an agreement about what is best for the American people," he said in a statement. (Bushes 41 and 43 have also declined to support Trump.)

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