Paul Ryan appeared on ABC News “This Week with George Stephanopoulos and spoke to Jonathan Karl. It didn’t take long at all before Ryan started trashing Trump and laying the blame for all of the GOP losses in the last three election cycles right at TFG’s feet:
RYAN: A couple of factors, but I personally think the evidence is really clear. The biggest factor was the Trump factor. Just look at how Chris Sununu ran ahead against — ahead of Bolduc in New Hampshire. Look at where Kemp ran ahead of Walker in Georgia. So, I think we would have — clearly have won the Senate had we had traditional Republicans in the general election like these governors did. I think we would have won places like Arizona, places like Pennsylvania, New Hampshire had we had a typical and traditional conservative Republican, not a Trump Republican.
So, I think what we now know, it’s pretty clear is, with Trump we lose. So, I don’t mean this personally, it’s just — it’s just evidence. We lost the House in ’18. We lost the presidency in ’20. We lost the Senate in ’20. And now, in 2022, we should have and could have won the Senate. We didn’t. And we have a much lower majority in the House because of that Trump factor.
So, I think it’s just — it’s palpable right now. We — we get past Trump, we start winning elections. We stick with Trump, we keep losing elections. That’s just how I see it.
KARL: But he had incredible power in the primaries.
RYAN: Yes.
KARL: I mean he — his candidates won in the Republican primaries almost across the board.
RYAN: That – that’s the point. He can get his people through the primaries but they can’t win general elections.
So, what — it’s really clear, I think the Republican voter is going to move on. I – that’s why I don’t think he ends up winning the – the nomination at the end of the day. I think we have a great stable of good, capable conservatives who are more than capable of winning this primary for presidency and winning the election. And I think Republican voters know that.
So that’s why I think our voters, ultimately, who really want to win, are going to — are going to give us candidates who can win.
KARL: What will it mean to the Republican Party if he actually wins the nomination again?
RYAN: We probably likely lose the White House. We just did in ’20. So, I think we probably lose the White House with Trump. And if there’s someone not named Trump, my guess is we win the White House.
Ryan couldn’t bring himself to fully condemn TFG though. He praised the Orange Shitgibbon for the damage they wreaked together such as the GOP Tax Scam of 2017.
It should be noted that this wasn’t the first time Ryan has floated that Trump is a problem for Republicans. But Ryan knew of all these problems before he turned tail and ran and never said a word. That makes him as culpable as all the members of the media that helped enable TFG’s out of control behavior.
And if that means the GOP keeps underperforming, I fail to see the problem. But Ryan has to admit his role in it.
