U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) believes that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s recent, racist attack on a federal judge — Trump claimed that Judge Gonzalo Curiel must remove himself from a case involving one of Trump’s companies because Curiel is “of Mexican heritage” — is wrong. But Ryan is voting for Trump anyway.
In an interview with Up Front with Vicki McKenna, a Milwaukee radio show, Ryan said that “the comment about the judge the other day just was out of left field” and that he “completely disagree[s] with the thinking behind that.” But the fact that Trump simultaneously launched a racist attack while calling into question whether he will respect the rule of law if elected president is no reason to vote for a Democrat, Ryan insists.
“If you want to get rid of Obamacare,” Ryan explained, “you need to pass a new law” that the president must sign. “We need a partner in the White House,” the Speaker continued, “to help us advance these bills that we’ve been passing — these conservative reforms that we want to get in law.”
And, in case there is any doubt, that partner is Donald Trump. “It is clear to me,” Ryan said of Trump, “that we have somebody who is a willing partner” in advancing the GOP’s legislative agenda. By contrast, “I know for darn sure Hillary Clinton is going to go in the opposite direction.”
You can listen to Ryan’s explanation why electing a candidate who will repeal Obamacare is more important than preventing a racist with authoritarian tendencies from gaining control of the world’s largest nuclear arsenal here:
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It’s worth noting, moreover, that the “conservative reforms” Ryan refers to are far more ambitious than simply rolling back President Obama’s legislative achievements. Ryan’s other plans include voucherizing Medicare in a way that significantly reduces health benefits to seniors, slashing health care for poor people and food stamps, and giving large tax cuts to rich people.