Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:29 pm
After asking Donald Trump not to attend a campaign event last month in Wisconsin following the release of the ‘Access Hollywood’ video, Paul Ryan came out on Saturday and said he would be happy to campaign with his nominee.
Just moments after welcoming Trump to hit the trail with him, though, the GOP nominee’s campaign unexpectedly canceled the event, saying there was a “scheduling conflict.”
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For the second time in as many months, the possibility of a joint Paul Ryan-Donald Trump campaign appearance was floated and quickly yanked away.
The Republican presidential nominee earlier this week scheduled a Sunday afternoon rally in West Allis, just outside Milwaukee. It was to be Trump’s sixth Wisconsin event since he lost the state’s primary election to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.Â
We don’t know if it’s scheduled firm or not yet, but I intend to do it if he’s here,” Ryan told reporters Saturday when asked if he would attend the Trump rally. “Here’s the point: we’re going from here to Mukwonago to go campaign with Mike Pence. So everybody’s schedule is a little bit in flux in these closing moments, but if our nominee comes, we’ll campaign with him.”Â
Seconds later, a spokesman for Trump’s Wisconsin campaign alerted reporters that the event had been canceled, citing a scheduling conflict.
This isn’t the first time there has been controversy surrounding the Republican Speaker of the House and the GOP nominee for president.
Not only did it take Ryan an extended period of time before he would even support his own nominee, but he has repeatedly had to distance himself from Trump and often criticize his offensive campaign rhetoric. Ryan even called Trump’s attacks on a federal judge the “textbook definition” of racism. Just last month, he disinvited Trump to a campaign event in Wisconsin.
After each of those instances, Paul Ryan eventually warms back up to Trump – just to be humiliated by him again, as he was on Saturday.
The two men are a living example of the rift that exists between Republicans who know they must try to appeal to a more diverse America and those who think they should double down on the politics of racial resentment and fear mongering.
Donald Trump and Paul Ryan do their best to pretend they support one another, but their secret civil war often leaks into the public view. On Nov. 8, when Trump loses, it is likely that this private feud within the GOP will become a public spectacle.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
