(PresidentialHill.com)- Former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who had a tense relationship with former President Trump while he served as head of the House GOP, claimed on Wednesday that Trump is causing political issues for Republicans and undermining the standing of the party’s candidates.
Ryan cautioned that given President Biden’s low job approval ratings, his party needs to conduct “a lot of soul-searching” to understand why a red wave didn’t develop on election day, as many Republican strategists and even Democrats had predicted.
The Republican Party is experiencing a “Trump hangover,” claimed Ryan. He also believes that the former president’s prolonged visibility brings problems to the national political stage. He feels Trump detracts from the GOP ticket. In an interview in his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin, he stated, “I think Donald Trump offers us problems politically.”
He said that when Trump was up for election or in office, the GOP lost the House, the Senate, and the White House in two years.
Ryan also predicted that Trump won’t receive the GOP nod for president in 2024 because most Republicans do not believe he can triumph in a general election.
He stated, “I honestly don’t think he’ll earn the nomination, but I suppose he’s going to announce.”
Ryan says they aim to win but realize they have a greater chance of losing with Trump. “Just consider the disparity in votes between candidates who support Trump and those who do not,” he stated.
He continued, “It’s fairly obvious to me, and the evidence is pretty plain, that if we have a nominee who isn’t named Trump, we’re so much more likely to win the White House than if our candidate is named Trump.”
But a Trump-friendly Republican strategist downplayed the criticism, saying it wouldn’t harm the former president’s standing with voters.
According to the source, “any time President Trump is attacked by a member of the establishment like Paul Ryan or Senate Republican Leader]Mitch McConnell, it strengthens Donald Trump because he’s so well-liked by the base is because he has a successful agenda.”
