POLITICUSUSA

Paul Ryan’s challenger in this year’s congressional race slammed the speaker on Saturday, saying that Ryan’s continued efforts to protect Donald Trump show that he will do anything to destroy the social safety net.

Democratic candidate Randy Bryce said Ryan was okay with the release of the Nunes memo because helping Trump means the speaker can realize his dream of dismantling programs like Medicaid and Social Security.

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When Reid asked Bryce why the Speaker continues to protect Trump, especially by supporting the release of the Nunes memo, the Democrat said:

Well, it seems to me he wants to go after Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Nobody has done more to attack those fantastic social programs, our safety net. He has already shown us with the tax scam – days after that happened, he got $500,000 from the Koch brothers. It is about rewarding those people that he has become close with in D.C. It is not hard working people like me. It is billionaires and special interests and lobbyists. That’s proven now. 

As Bryce said, it’s “proven” that Ryan cares more about dismantling the social safety net and advancing the interests of his wealthy donors than he does about helping his constituents or holding this dangerous president accountable.

The new effort to ignore the concerns of the FBI and go forward with the release the Nunes memo is proof of that. Ryan and his colleagues will do anything to shield this president from accountability so long as it means he can continue to check off his anti-middle class agenda items. First, it was tax cuts for the wealthy. Soon, they will wage war on social programs in order to pay for those handouts.

Paul Ryan has made a choice that his corporate agenda is more important than protecting the republic from an out-of-control president. Without an empty suit like Trump in the White House, his wishlist would remain in a desk drawer somewhere.

Special counsel Robert Mueller may be investigating Trump for conspiring with a foreign adversary and obstructing justice, but Republicans know they are at risk, too.

If the president goes down, the entire GOP agenda will go with him.