Let’s be honest here: No one has any idea what the latest spat between presumptive Republican presidential nominee and Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan means. No, not the spat about whether Ryan will sufficiently support Trump. No, not the one over Ryan's role in the upcoming fiasco that will be the Republican National Convention. The one where Donald Trump says Paul Ryan gave him a congratulatory phone call after his sweeping primary victories—and Rep. Paul Ryan says that never happened.
Here's Trump's version, talking on Meet The Press about how Ryan couldn’t help but call to praise the juggernaut that is Donald Trump.
He called me three weeks ago, and he was so supportive. It was amazing. [... H]e spoke to me three weeks ago, and it was a very nice call, a very encouraging call. I was doing well. He called me, I think, to congratulate me about New York, 'cause I won by massive numbers. I won everything.
Sounds lovely. Aaaaaaand Paul Ryan's office says Trump is lying about the whole thing.
But a spokesman for Mr. Ryan said Saturday that such a call never took place.
Ordinarily when there's a dispute between Donald Trump and anybody else in his life, it seems to be safest to presume Donald Trump is lying. This time-saving rule tends to break down when applied to Republican politics, however, and especially any member of the Republican House or Senate. The most plausible non-lying explanation is that Trump is, ahem, confused. He's known for having a mind like a steel colander, and he might have been thinking of Paul Ryan calling him back in March and having a completely different conversation. But that call, too, is the subject of heated debate.
The March phone call has also been a subject of dispute. Mr. Trump had said publicly that Mr. Ryan had called him. But Mr. Ryan, who had been critical of Mr. Trump’s more divisive comments, said he was responding to a request for a call by Mr. Trump.
So either Paul Ryan called Donald Trump in April to gush about how terrific Donald Trump was, or Paul Ryan called Trump in March to coolly discuss Paul Ryan's agenda. Who the hell knows. Honestly, deciding which of these two people is lying the mostest is a fool's game.
It's going to be a little bit amazing to watch all this play out on live television during the convention. Speakers directly contradicting what the very last person on stage said, someone else coming on stage and saying a third thing, and then if we’re lucky Clint Eastwood gets up and throws an empty chair.