Audio recently released by the alt-right media company Breitbart, revealing comments made by Paul Ryan wherein he put down the then presidential hopeful Donald Trump. The clip contains a quote by Ryan in which he says that he has no intentions to defend Donald Trump now or ever in the future.
The recording was released and posted by Breitbart Monday night, just one day before the scheduled meeting between Paul Ryan and Donald Trump where they were to discuss the looming Healthcare rollouts. The move seems to have been intentional, as an ongoing battle between those who disapprove of Ryan’s healthcare ideas and Paul Ryan, with those who do not support the bill having sights set on the complete removal of both Speaker Ryan and the American Health Care Act entirely.
The comments that were made by Ryan in October were a response to the Access Hollywood video that revealed the comments that were made by Donald Trump in a conversation with Billy Bush that was lewd in nature. The rest of the comments by Paul Ryan express his desire to convey that the comments made by Donald Trump are not congruent with the principles long held by the Republican party. Additionally, that he had no intention of defending the comments and would not be assisting the presidential hopeful by campaigning for him or allowing him to come to the GOP events he was hosting.
There were no shortages of criticizations lobbed at Speaker Ryan for being a coward when he refused to stand up to Donald Trump for having an apparent lack of morals. It seems that Ryan held on to his endorsement as long as possible because he knew that there was no way he was going to have a shot at getting rid of Obamacare if Donald Trump was not the president. The Access Hollywood leak seems to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, and it was at this point that Ryan broke his silence along with his endorsement.
Ryan continued to express concerns about the Republican nominee in the leaked conference call, saying that he knew his comments would not make him popular, but that they were what was needed to be said to protect his fellow House members. Additionally, that instead of campaigning for Donald Trump he was going to instead focus on helping House Republicans seeking election.
Breitbart has not been silent with his desire that the plan proposed by and endorsed by the House Speaker will backfire on him, and this leak seems to be yet another move on the website’s attempt to aid in that end.