Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:57 pm
Trump says only he is “really surprised.” Sean Hannity, on the other hand, having already attacked Paul Ryan via Twitter, calling his refusal to endorse Trump “establishment sabotage,” said on his show Thursday, “I’m Thinking Maybe We Need A New Speaker.”
It is true that Paul Ryan has had his fair share of problems, and made his fair share of mistakes (and then some), but failing to endorse Donald Trump is not one of them.
Hannity spoke in reaction to calls from various conservative sources for Republicans to distance themselves from Donald Trump. Petulantly, Hannity told guest Newt Gingrich,
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“Well, I’m not ready to support Speaker Ryan anymore. I’m thinking maybe we need a new speaker.”
Watch courtesy of Media Matters for America:
Gingrich called Trump’s opponents “pseudo-intellectual right-wingers” who “alienated the entire American people” are being repudiated and said they just “don’t know what to do.” So just to nail this train of thought down, Trump isn’t the pseudo-intellectual, but his Republican opponents are.
Yes, a man who speaks at a third-grade level is not a pseudo-intellectual. I suppose because he’s not really trying to be smart. It is difficult, however, to make a case that being openly vulgar and low-brow is better than pretending to be smart when you’re not. I guess, in this instance at least, that Trump is as genuine as he claims.
That hardly comes out to a recommendation that he hold the highest office in the land.
Gingrich told Hannity that “the country has looked at their lack of achievement, their lack of effectiveness, and has said no.” Like Hannity, Gingrich sees treason everywhere in the failure of Republicans to endorse Trump, saying the Republican Party has been “pretty darn good” to the Bushes and Romney. Now, apparently, it’s their turn to give back.
Gingrich agreed with Hannity that Paul Ryan “made a big mistake” and that as Speaker of the House “he has an obligation to unify the party” and an “obligation to reach out.” To Gingrich’s way of thinking, it is not Trump endangering Republican control of House and Senate, but Ryan.
Yet neither Gingrich nor Hannity can offer an argument that Trump has in any way shown he can do any of the things he says he can do. He just says he can do them. He doesn’t say how, because he doesn’t know how. If the current crop of establishment Republicans aren’t getting anything done, there is no reason to suppose Trump will do better.
True, Paul Ryan has shown himself to be as much of a non-entity as his predecessor, John Boehner, but again, that hardly comes out as a recommendation for Trump.
There is plenty of blame to go around. Trump’s unfavorable rating is through the roof. If Republicans lose seats in Congress, Trump is not without blame. Ryan also gets blame for being completely useless, a guy who, like Boehner, talks a good fight, but doesn’t actually accomplish anything.
Gingrich, for whom criticism of Trump is “vitriol,” actually claimed that in the history of American politics – 200 years of it – Trump is “not outrageously outside the norm.” Obviously, Trump, the actual source of that vitriol rather than its target, is very much outrageously outside the norm, and everyone can see that except people like Hannity and Gingrich. There is a reason Trump has such a low favorability rating.
Hannity and Gingrich might believe Ryan is sabotaging Trump, but the reality of it is, Trump has not only sabotaged Trump, but the entire GOP. Yes, Ryan is guilty too – as I said, there is plenty of guilt to go around – but it isn’t the GOP that destroyed Trump’s image and burned his bridges. Trump did that himself.
Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.
