House Speaker Paul Ryan will not campaign with or defend Donald Trump through the November election, according to a knowledgeable person who participated in a phone call with House GOP lawmakers on Monday morning, reports The Washington Post.
“The speaker is going to spend the next month focused entirely on protecting our congressional majorities,” said Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong.
The Wisconsin Republican canceled an appearance with his party’s presidential nominee over the weekend after a 2005 videotape surfaced of Trump making lewd comments about women. Ryan said he was “disgusted” by the comments but did not at that time withdraw his support for Trump.
The speaker, who has pledged to vote for Trump, did not address whether he would revoke his official endorsement, said a second person present on the call. The tone of that call, which lasted roughly an hour, was “nervous,” that person added.
“There is no update in his position at this time,” Strong said regarding an endorsement.
With this move, Ryan at least partially joined a growing group of high-profile Republican lawmakers who have renounced their support of Trump following the disclosure Friday by The Washington Post of an 11-year-old videotape of the businessman talking casually about kissing and groping women. That group includes Rep. Jason Chaffetz (Utah) and Sens. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) and John McCain (Ariz.), both in tough reelection races.
In withdrawing his public support from Trump, Ryan is essentially giving other Republican lawmakers license to do the same if they oppose Trump’s statements and are concerned about their own reelection chances.
“You all need to do what’s best for you and your district,” Ryan said, according to the person, who because of the private nature the call did not want to be named.
Republicans who participated in the post-debate conference call Monday morning are becoming increasingly worried about their chances of holding onto their 30-seat House majority as Trump lags dangerously behind Hillary Clinton in the polls.
An NBC News-Wall Street Journal survey released Monday showed Trump taking a big dip following the release of the videotape, with Clinton leading Trump by double digits among likely voters, 46 to 35 percent, in a four-way contest. Democrats had a seven-point lead on the question of which party voters would like to see control Congress.
Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), chairman of the House GOP campaign arm, briefed lawmakers on the House battlegrounds, warning the “ground is shifting,” according to lawmaker on the call. Walden said Republicans should continue to poll their races and that winning their races was equivalent to “landing an airplane in a hurricane: ‘You have to trust the instruments.’”
The speaker plans to spend the next month, he told lawmakers on the conference call, “only campaigning for House seats and not going to promote or defend Trump,” according to a GOP lawmaker. Ryan plans to campaign in 17 states and 42 cities in October to help preserve his majority.
The House GOP call was an opportunity for members to check in after a chaotic weekend where dozens of GOP lawmakers revoked their support for Trump after the release of a 11-year-old recording of Trump using graphic language to describe kissing and groping women against their will. Lawmakers spent the weekend fielding a barrage of questions about their support for Trump without any formal guidance from party leaders.
Ryan typically holds weekly sessions for his members, referring to the confabs as “family meetings” where members are invited to speak their minds. The meetings have become a mainstay for a House GOP that has been plagued by infighting and crisis for more than a year.
