ICYMI: Washington Post Editorial Calls Out Speaker Ryan’s Toothless Maneuvering On Trump

By: Meredith Kelly

ICYMI: Washington Post Editorial Calls Out Speaker Ryan’s Toothless Maneuvering On Trump

This weekend, the Washington Post editorial board called out Speaker Ryan’s too little, too late “not there right now” dodge on Trump’s presidential nomination. It’s no surprise that Ryan is desperately scrambling to try and blunt the down-ballot impact for vulnerable House Republican now that Trump has become his party’s presumptive nominee.

But Ryan’s efforts are toothless and hollow on two fronts: they will not change the fact that Presidential races always define those down-ballot – especially in the year of the Trump Ticket, and Ryan’s comments were bravely delivered after the Republican cake was baked. Ryan spent months standing silently by as Trump demeaned women, refused to denounce the KKK and insulted Hispanics. The Washington Post astutely observes:

The morality of the situation demands more than Mr. Ryan’s “we’ll see.”

There’s only one way Mr. Ryan could support Mr. Trump

By Editorial Board May 7

IT WAS an “extraordinary rebuke” of Donald Trump, according to various news reports. Or was it?

[. . .]

The morality of the situation demands more than Mr. Ryan’s “we’ll see.” Yet the speaker has set standards for himself, and we expect that he will live by them. When Mr. Ryan says that Mr. Trump must “appeal to all Americans,” we wonder how this could ever be accomplished by a man who has mocked the disabled, attacked women in appalling terms, belittled Jews, Latinos and others, proposed banning Muslims from entering the United States and threatened political opponents, the free press and the speaker himself.

[. . .]

Mr. Ryan and Mr. Trump are set to meet next week, and Mr. Priebus wants them to patch things up. But if the speaker really meant what he said, the only way he could support Mr. Trump is if the billionaire withdrew from the race.

Read more here.