House Speaker Paul Ryan has no plans to rescind his endorsement of Donald Trump. During his weekly media briefing in Washington D.C., the Wisconsin Republican was asked how many more times he’ll have to react to comments from Trump.
“He’s a different kind of candidate. This is a different kind of year,” Ryan said on Thursday. “I’m going to be myself, and speak up in defense of our principles, not just our party’s principles but our country’s principles.”
Trump said Wednesday that congressional GOP leadership should “be quiet.” Ryan responded “you can’t make this up sometimes.”
Trump also said this week that he was suspending the Washington Post’s credentials to cover his campaign. “I think that’s a new one,” Ryan said, before pointedly offering the last question to a reporter from the Post.
Ryan’s endorsement of his party’s presumptive presidential nominee isn’t hurting him with Wisconsin Republicans. The most recent Marquertte Law School Poll released this week found that while only 38 percent of poll respondents support that decision, a majority — 69 percent — of Republicans do.
“Republican partisans, despite the divisions we’ve been talking about, are coming to be pretty positive about Trump, and coming to be pretty positive about Ryan’s endorsement,” said poll director Charles Franklin.
