Speaker of the House Paul Ryan condemned the bigoted views of the violent alt-right in Charlottesville that he helped enable with his support for Trump.
Ryan tweeted:
The views fueling the spectacle in Charlottesville are repugnant. Let it only serve to unite Americans against this kind of vile bigotry.
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) August 12, 2017
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There is no one who supported Trump in the Republican Party who has any standing to condemn the violence in Charlottesville. If Ryan was disgusted by the bigotry in Charlottesville, he wouldn’t be such a coward when it comes to standing up to Trump. Paul Ryan long ago sold out any values that anyone thought he had in order to pursue his ideological dream of destroying entitlements while cutting taxes for the wealthy.
If Speaker Ryan really cared about fighting bigotry, he would have spoken out against Trump during the campaign. He would have refused to chair the Republican convention. He would stop enabling Trump’s behavior as president. Paul Ryan had numerous opportunities to take a stand and do something long before the violence in Charlottesville. America sees through the Speaker’s empty words.
All Trump enables, like Paul Ryan, made an intentional decision to enable these bigoted views in a craven bid to gain political power.
You built this, Speaker Ryan, and no number of tweets can take away your ownership of the Charlottesville violence.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association