Every day that passes brings us one step closer to Richard Nixon’s administration, where those around the president heard no evil, saw no evil and spoke no evil.
Into this last category now falls Paul Ryan, speaker of the House, who on Sunday appeared on 60 Minutes and refused to disavow president-elect Donald Trump’s false claims (also known as lies) that he would have won the popular vote were it not for voter fraud. Please note, there is absolutely no evidence of voter fraud, something that politicians on both side of the aisle have pointed out.
In an interview on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” Ryan was asked about Trump's tweet that said he would have won the popular vote “if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.”
“I don't know,” the Wisconsin Republican said in response. “I'm not really focused on these things.”
Ryan has a history of being blind to the obvious and ugly, such as in September when he praised Trump’s performance at the presidential debate, saying:
“I saw Donald Trump give a spirited voice to those of us who don’t like the status quo, and I see emerging in front of us the potential for what a unified Republican government can get you, which can be the solutions,” Ryan said at a news conference Tuesday.
Yet when asked about a matter Hillary Clinton referred to in the same debate—Trump calling a former Miss Universe contestant “Miss Piggy,” of which there is film—suddenly Ryan needs firsthand knowledge of something in order to comment.
Asked about Trump's remarks Tuesday, Ryan said “I’m not going to comment on something I didn’t see.”
It sounds like Ryan is trying to take the advice Halderman offered more than 40 years ago:
“We are getting into semantics again. If we use words, there is a very grave danger they will be misinterpreted.
– H.R. Haldeman
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Trump called the former Miss Universe contestant “Miss Piggy” during the debate. He did not; he just responded to Clinton’s remark.