House Speaker Paul Ryan has another rather high-profile role in the party—he's going to be chairman of the Republican nominating committee at this summer's convention. It appears that he's as delusional about his potential success there as he is about "leading" his House mob. That showed when he was asked whether he's going to have to denounce Donald Trump's candidacy under the combined weight of violence, xenophobia, sexism, and racism.
“I do not believe I’ll have to do that,” Ryan told reporters at his weekly press conference. The speaker didn’t clarify whether he thinks he won’t have to disavow Trump because the would-be nominee will be on his best behavior, or because he doesn’t think Trump will be the nominee.
When a reporter pressed Ryan, saying he has already “denounced Donald Trump for xenophobia and Islamaphobia,” Ryan playfully shrugged as if to say, “Well, yes and no.”
Ryan has yet to use Trump’s name in one of his condemnations, opting instead for nebulous statements about what conservatism really is and what it is not. But it’s clear that Ryan has been referring to the GOP front-runner, even if Trump himself doesn’t seem to be getting the message.
When discussing how he’ll unite the party during his victory speech on Tuesday, Trump noted that “Paul Ryan called me — tremendous call.”
Since a very large chunk of Ryan's caucus is just as bad as Trump and would say the same kinds of things if they had the same platform, maybe he doesn't think it's any big deal. Maybe he just thinks it's normal. Maybe he's living in an alternate reality, one where everything works out magically in the end without his having to sully himself by getting involved.
That's what he's been trying to do with the budget process that's been doomed from the start, standing outside the process and letting his leadership team be the public face of the ongoing disaster. Somehow I don't think this strategy is going to end well for him.