Paul Ryan Won’t Defend Donald Trump, Upsetting Trump and G.O.P. Hard-Liners
On Monday, October 10, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan informed Republican lawmakers that he will no longer defend Donald Trump or campaign with him. He will instead focus his efforts on retaining the GOP Senate and House majority. Donald Trump has sharply criticized Ryan's actions, saying Ryan shouldn't spend so much time attacking the Republican nominee. Ryan, the top Republican in Congress, is certainly very influential and his decision will undoubtedly have far-reaching implications for the Trump campaign and the future of the party. Do you believe Ryan made the right decision in distancing himself from the Trump campaign? Do you think he should completely rescind his endorsement of the embattled candidate? What do you think the consequences of Donald Trump's campaign will be for down-ballot Republicans?
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/us/politics/donald-trump-gop-hillary-clinton.html?_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/us/politics/donald-trump-gop-hillary-clinton.html?_r=0
This is all such a mess, and there's so many ways this could go. Technically speaking, from my liberal standpoint, I don't think Ryan should have said anything about Trump because that might help him win over the attention of all the republicans who want to vote republican, but don't want to vote Trump. For Ryan himself, what I just mentioned could happen and he could thrive, or, as the article mentioned, republicans, especially political elites, could start disagreeing with him more, which would prove to be detrimental to his reputation. I must say that I do appreciate that Ryan realizes that maybe Trump isn't the best choice to lead our country. As someone very prominent in his field, it says a lot that he's even considering not backing his party's nominee. If he does unendorse Trump, and if other elites continue to do the same, as they have been doing, I see no way that Trump could win. As the article said, here we are at just about a month until the election, and Trump has less than 40% of the vote. So maybe Ryan's potential unendorsement would hurt, but at this point, what could really help?
ReplyDeleteI think that Paul Ryan's decision to distance himself from Trump is what ALL Republicans in congress (and frankly anyone with a brain) should be doing. In fact I think that everyone that has endorsed him should promptly un-endorse him if they haven't already. To be quite honest, I think that the entire platform should have separated themselves from him months ago. This entire scenario is a perfect example of just how dysfunctional politics are in the US. It is all a game to see who can win control and after that the candidate's real motives come out. So, how can you know what you are going to get when you vote for a congressman or woman this Novermber? How will anyone know if the people on the ballot actually stand with Trump or if it is all a fiscade that he or she has put up to win and have his or her party control congress. Furthermore, if these candidates are so wishy-washy on who they support and if they are constantly changing their minds to fit what they think the public wants to hear, what else are they wishy-washy on? What other issues will these candidates "change their opinions on" when it seems convenient? How do you know that you are truly getting Pizza Hut if you voted for Pizza Hut and not Chick-fil-a? Is anyone consistent anymore?
ReplyDeleteFinally, I think that Donald Trump has hurt candidates towards the bottom of the ballot because people think that he is crazy and unstable (which they should because he is) so they have decided not to vote for anyone affiliated with him or the party. I also think that voters are worried about who they are truly voting for at this point, so they would rather vote for someone who is stable that they don't completely agree with or not vote at all.
It was rather appalling to read that Representative Dana Rohrabacher of California found Republicans not supporting Trump to be “cowards.” The fact that she is okay with jumping on the bandwagon and simply supporting him because he is a Republican makes her a follower. Personally, it is a pet-peeve of mine when people do what everyone else is doing because they can’t come up with their own opinions. The fact that an elected leader is endorsing someone because everyone else is as well shows immaturity and an inability to complete her job efficiently. And unfortunately she is not the only one. Paul Ryan is speaking openly about what he thinks is best for the country and is getting scrutinized for his actions. It’s unsettling that citizens and leaders will shame and shun others, supposedly their colleagues, for speaking outwardly about what they believe.
ReplyDeleteIt was rather appalling to read that Representative Dana Rohrabacher of California found Republicans not supporting Trump to be “cowards.” The fact that she is okay with jumping on the bandwagon and simply supporting him because he is a Republican makes her a follower. Personally, it is a pet-peeve of mine when people do what everyone else is doing because they can’t come up with their own opinions. The fact that an elected leader is endorsing someone because everyone else is as well shows immaturity and an inability to complete her job efficiently. And unfortunately she is not the only one. Paul Ryan is speaking openly about what he thinks is best for the country and is getting scrutinized for his actions. It’s unsettling that citizens and leaders will shame and shun others, supposedly their colleagues, for speaking outwardly about what they believe.
ReplyDeleteThis is a sad article to read. The fact that Paul Ryan was booed because he doesn't want a man who has bragged about sexually assaulting women is appalling. Also I was perplexed when Ms. Palmieri said that there was a time for unendorsing Trump, but that time isn't now. How can she say that people's opinions of someone shouldn't change after a certain time even if new opinion changing evidence is presented. Evidence like, oh I don't know, recordings of Trump saying awful things. At this point Paul Ryan made the right choice of focusing on keeping senate majorities. As the article said, Trump is almost certainly going to lose as he is very low in the polls, so it is smart of Mr. Ryan to focus on gathering together some remnant of the devided Republican Party to try and keep Senate majority.
ReplyDeleteY'all need to stop using NYT, you're burning up my free 10 articles like crazy, and I like reading it on my own time.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so, man. This is tough. You basically have 4 groups voting for president this year. Reactionary Trump Supporters- Conservatives- Moderates/Moderately Liberal- Socialists.
The former two are voting for Trump, the latter two are mostly voting for Hillary (though some of the last are voting Stein or Johnson). But that second Moderately Conservative group is really struggling right now. See, Republicans are currently appealing to the first two groups and having a hard time of it. To do so, they basically need to fall in line with Trump's terrifying rhetoric, or suffer the loss of group 1. But if they don't stand up to Trump, some of group 2 might vote Dem or 3rd Party. So, conservatives this year need to decide where they stand and honestly, the fact that there *is* this schism, probably indicates the absolute mess the party is in right now. So, rank and file republican voters are probably confused. Many will vote Trump because they hate Hillary (and I give them no more credit than I do the first group, because being blinded by hate for someone and voting against their rights is exactly what the first group is doing) and some will probably vote elsewhere. But the down ballot people? Well, that depends where they fall. Many will just vote Republican. After all, THEY didn't say any of those things. But if Democrats run successful smear campaigns in those states, they have a good chance of winning that second group, pushing the Republican candidate into that super conservative field and preventing them from winning any moderate votes.
Ooh-wee! This is a tough one.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of my personal beliefs, if I were Paul Ryan, I'd support Trump. I agree with Clinton's communications director, Jennifer Palmieri when she said, “There was a time when [Ryan] could have spoken out against him; that time was this summer. Obviously, it is too late now.” Since nobody stopped Trump, now the party has to face the consequences. Ryan should have just choked down that disgustingly greasy Trump Steak and supported his party's nominee; by not supporting Trump, he's inadvertently making Republicans consider voting for Hillary or possibly not voting at all. Ryan didn't have to be a gung-ho Trump supporter (complete with t-shirt and beer koozie), but by clearly not supporting him, it won't do the Republican Party any favors. After making his statements, however, there's no going back now.
I don't necessarily think Ryan's opinions are wrong, but not supporting his party's candidate may turn out to have a more negative effect on the Republicans that intended.
It's kind of like if you want to go get a hamburger, and you have to choose between Burger King or McDonalds. But, you read the newspaper and find out that Ronald McDonald doesn't like the hamburgers at McDonalds. So now you're all like, "Hmm, well if Ronald McDonald doesn't like the hamburgers I probably won't either." BUT the alternative is Burger King and you already know Burger King's burgers suck and have too much mayonnaise, but... are they worse than McDonald's burgers?
ReplyDeleteSo some of the people who like McDonalds will just go to Burger King because they'd rather have a crappy hamburger that may be just as bad as a McDonalds hamburger, but at least someone who represents Burger King isn't bashing their own hamburger. And some of these McDonalds fans would just go to Pizza Hutt because they just don't care anymore about a hamburger!
So, in conclusion, I still don't understand this metaphor.
Perhaps the republicans are now wishing that presidential candidates in America were chosen by party leaders instead of by a primary, because the 3.5% of the population that voted for Trump in the spring and summer produced an unsavory candidate. Well, it's too late now to alter the American electoral system, so republicans are faced with this dilemma of whether or not to endorse Trump. Unlike voters, political elites are generally very committed to their party identity, so un-endorsing their own candidate is risky business. That being said, I believe Paul Ryan, both politically and morally, made the right decision. He is accepting the increasingly evident fact that Trump will not win the presidency. To be able to focus on keeping a Republican majority is the way to go perhaps taking advantage of the "check-and-balance on Hilary" campaign strategy. Republicans that criticize Ryan are an overt manifestation of the corruption that we read about this summer: strict, uncompromising party alignment that leads to adverse political outcomes. I respect Paul Ryan for doing what he thinks is right.
ReplyDeleteDonald Trump will most likely lose this election. This being said, I don't think Ryan's decision was smart. If more people were renouncing Trump, it would be great, but they're not. I think Paul Ryan's decision will not benefit him and can't hurt Trump, since he has already basically lost. Ryan has already said what he has said, so now I think he should support his decision and just try not to go back on his word. For now, I think it'll negatively affect him since he didn't believe in the candidate of the party, but maybe later, people will understand what he's talking about. The leading republican shouldn't be going against his own party no matter who the candidate is, and no matter how he feels. If Ryan were to have said the opposite, or even nothing at all, Trump would probably still lose and Ryan would keep his credibility.
ReplyDeleteI personally think Paul Ryan made the right move in distancing himself from Trump, but politically speaking, it might not have been such a smart move. Being that he is the Speaker of the House, not supporting your own candidate may not slide over well with many Republicans who still support Trump for various reasons. Although as Shannah said, it is kind of crazy that Paul Ryan is receiving backlash over unendorsing Trump because he doesn't believe in his racist and hate filled agenda. I think it has come to a point where party alliance shouldn't matter anymore, and people should do what is morally right.
ReplyDeletePaul Ryan made the smart move morally removing himself from trump, and politically in the long run this may prove to be smart move. As of right now, Ryan may not be feeling the benefits, as the backlash and pressure to support the candidate nominee is overwhelming. However, for all the Republicans unendorsing trump, there are many that haven't even endorsed him in the first place. The downballot doesn't have much to worry about since they are already household names, and the community is already familiar with their policies and beliefs. Those running on the down ballot are on earth, and trump and his ideas are on mars.
ReplyDeleteI think Paul Ryan made the right choice on distancing himself from Trump. Although he may be losing support from the pro-Trump supporters, it is the moral thing to do after the videos of Trump were released. By focusing on keeping senate majorities, Ryan can also make sure Hillary doesn't change too much, because as of right now, it looks like Hillary will win by a landslide. This is the most that the Republican party can do right now because their shot at the presidency look very slim, not to mention that the party is also very divided.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Eric, the smartest decision for most of GOP and top Republican Party members is probably to refrain from further supporting much of the damaging things Donald Trump says, and many should probably consider rescinding their support from the nominee. At this point the election has all but been won by Clinton, and the best the Republicans can do is try to set themselves up for the political climate of the upcoming four years. Trump has done significant damage to the party's name, and this will need to be reversed for any Republican candidate in the 2020 election to have a chance of success. Paul Ryan is probably the most prominent person to publicly berate Trump like this, but with the likes of John McCain and Mitch McConnell doing so as well Trump will likely lose a significant amount of his own conservative voters. The other day I even saw a campaign ad on TV for Republican Congressman Pat Meehan explicitly stating he doesn't support Trump.
ReplyDeleteIf its the ethical answer you seek, then yes, Ryan did the right thing withdrawing suport no matter the timing late in the race. Trump's list of horribles grows longer and as Sam points out when new evidence emerges, it is appropriate to reconsider one's opinion and support. Ryan has integrity and guts. By withdrawing support, he runs the risk of losing the Republican endorsement when he is up for reelection. One caveat here, Trump is an anomoly; so going against him may have no lasting negative effects for Ryan. As for down ballot candidates, I think it is virtually impossible for them to avoid Trump backlash. As the head goes, so goes the rest.
ReplyDeleteRyan is stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he endorses Trump, he risks losing the support of moderate voters who think Trump is crazy. If he openly doesn't support him, he risks making the Republican Party look like it isn't united (I'm not saying it is, but when the house speaker doesn't endorse the presidential nominee it doesn't look good). However, I believe for all ethical reasons Ryan did the right thing. If he truly believes that Trump is going to make America worse he did the right thing by withdrawing his support. I do not believe he should openly denounce Trump as he is the party head, but withdrawing his support sends a clear message to Trump and other Republicans.
ReplyDeleteAnd now Ryan has a giant target sitting on his back. While this is absolutely the right thing to do, seeing as the Trump train is not something any ethical human being should support, this could cost Ryan votes. However, what disturbs me is the number of Republicans who are turning on themselves and denouncing each other, which, besides being disgracefully uncalled for, does not promote any form of constructive reform or improvement, and just adds to the drama, making everyone who is trying to make an independent, ethical choice have a hard time and be intimidated for the wrong reasons, including blind loyalty. It's a sad state as of now, but maybe once this election passes, it will accelerate the change of the Republican party into something more responsible and competent.
ReplyDeleteAt the time, I would've said Ryan made the correct decision by distancing himself from Donald Trump. Donald Trump looked like a ticking time bomb for the Republican party, and Ryan, as the Speaker of the House, had a duty to salvage his party and get as many of them elected as he possibly could. He did not have time to defend Donald Trump's nonsensical actions, and he needed to make sure his party retained control. The problem was that if Donald Trump became president-elect, it was clear he would not necessarily be forgiven easily. He subjected himself to potential strife by going against the grain. And knowing what I know now, Paul Ryan is most likely moderately fearful for his job as Speaker, as he jeopardized his relationship with pro-Trump Republicans and Trump himself by doing the right thing. While Paul Ryan may have helped down-ballot republicans, he jeopardized himself.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Ryan made a bad decision distancing himself from Trump, both before the election and now. Whether Trump won or not, it would only further break apart the Republican Party into pro and anti Trumps, and he'd lose more support by making a statement from the pro Trump supporters than he would have lost from anti Trump Republicans by holding his powder. However, after seeing Trump win, it only solitifies my opinion that it was a bad idea overall. This may be as bad for him as, say, dissing the current President over Twitter and questioning his birth certificate before running for President yourself.
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