Posted on 07/12/2024 6:00:18 PM PDT by DoodleBob
Paul Ryan, one of the most prominent national Republicans in Wisconsin history, is also notable as one of leading Republicans to reject the GOP’s current standard bearer, former President Donald Trump. Ryan, of Janesville, represented Wisconsin’s First Congressional District for 20 years and served as speaker from 2015 to 2019, when, after three years of clashing with Trump, he did not seek re-election. (He currently serves in a number of corporate roles.) In a 30-minute interview with Milwaukee Magazine in late May, Ryan shared his views on Trump’s rematch with President Joe Biden, the state of the GOP, national affairs and his personal contacts with Trump.
PR: People just don’t see it the way I do, I guess. I think people are putting aside their concern with his character and they’re thinking more about inflation, crime, border issues. And they just remember when Trump was president, these problems weren’t here. With Biden being president, these problems are here. Recency bias, I think it’s just that simple. I think they’re kind of looking past the character issues and looking into the policies.
PR: Sure, I think that’s quite possible, but he’s not a sitting president, so he can’t instigate a Jan. 6 like he could last time. I can’t imagine he wants to concede anything, but I don’t think it’s going to have as much saliency as it did the last time, given that he’s the challenger.
I don’t expect there to be fraud. And I also expect that there’ll be allegations of it. But I don’t think it’s going to be nearly as credible the second time around. And he doesn’t have the institutional power that an incumbent president has. So, for those reasons, I’m not as worried about it as I would have been this last time around.
PR: The border thing really is a mess, it is a problem. I know three people in Janesville who died of fentanyl poisoning just last year. So, it’s a problem everywhere. And Biden fueled inflation with his COVID stimulus. He’s proposing horrible tax policy. And I think he’s got horrendous foreign policy. Afghanistan and now his treatment of Israel I think are just terrible policies. So I think you’ll have better policies coming from a Trump candidacy than you come from a Biden candidacy, no two ways about it.
PR: Always interesting. I had many. He covers lots of topics. He changed the subject a lot. I typically try to have conversations to achieve an objective. Usually when you’re running Congress, it’s some particular bill or issue you’re working on. But he’s a guy who covers a lot of subjects in a short period of time.
He never really did that [insult] to me too much. I think he thought he was insulting me early on when he used to call me a Boy Scout because I think he thought that was an insult. He meant it that way. I passed something [legislation] that was hard to pass early on. He said, “I’m going to stop calling you a Boy Scout. You really deliver.” I never really took it as an insult. Now I know he meant it that way.
Now, because I don’t support him, he [insults] me. I don’t have any political ambitions, so I don’t care. I think he knows that and he hits me when I don’t show support or fealty to try and send a message to other people so that they continue to pledge fealty to him. I think it’s really that. But in government, he never really was personally insulting to me.
PR: No. I think there’s a better scenario there for Biden than there is one for Trump. For Biden, it’s just senility and age. If he has some really weird senior moment, which can happen to people in his condition, before the [Democratic] convention, then I can see them swapping somebody out. That’s not inconceivable to me. I don’t think it’s likely at all.
But with Trump, I don’t think so. People try to fashion a narrative of, if he’s a convicted felon that people are going to drop away their support. I don’t buy that. I don’t think they will. I don’t see him getting swapped out or replaced at the convention. I think it’s fairly inconceivable that that would happen.
PR: I think that’s the fair fight that will have to happen after Trump, because I don’t think it’s a fair fight with Trump. I don’t think it’s a winnable fight with Trump. [Ryan praised Republicans Nikki Haley and Glenn Youngkin.] What do those people have in common? Principled conservatives with very specific policy vision, and they’re trying to run inspirational, aspirational, inclusive campaigns. Not playing identity politics. They’re basing their policies on founding principles and they’re building a big coalition with a policy goal, with a policy vision. And it has nothing to do with a cult of a person’s personality.
I think given the weakness of the left, the weakness of Biden, there is a golden opportunity for a principled, center-right party to be a majoritarian party in this country. But it’s not what we have right now.
PR: The college-educated suburbanites are the new swing voters in Wisconsin. The rural and the urban voter are firmly encamped in blue and red. And it’s really a question of, do those people who voted for Biden the last time, thinking he was going to be a moderate, do they vote for him again this time now that he’s not a moderate? And has Trump done something that makes them like him more since 2020? Well, I don’t think he has; Jan. 6, a bunch of indictments, so I don’t think Trump’s pulled those people in his direction.
In my opinion, Biden is chasing the wrong voters. He’s chasing the progressive base. He’s chasing left wing. He’s chasing pro-Palestinian. He’s chasing left-wing policies. And he’s going to push those (swing) voters either to go to an independent third party or write-in or Trump. But if Biden pivots and it makes a compelling reason for those college-educated suburbanites who typically vote Republican to vote for him, maybe he can get them back. It’s really going to come down to that.
PR: Well, first of all, he did curate inflation. His first big stimulus package when we were coming out of COVID, clearly he just threw money at the problem and economists from the left and the right were predicting this would fuel inflation and it did exactly that. So, No. 1, he debased our currency by producing inflation because he passed a massive spending bill and then what did he do after that? Two more spending bills.
And then I think he had a disastrous pullout from Afghanistan that was very, very unfortunate. And then he decided to put ideologues in his executive agencies. Now he’s got ideologues running the SEC, running the FTC, and shutting down energy production, shutting down economic growth. So the regulatory state is very heavy, and it’s putting a drag on the economy while they’re shoving money out the door, fueling inflation.
And he’s showing our allies that, when the going gets tough, we leave. When the going gets tough in Afghanistan, we leave. When the going gets tough with our allies in Israel, he undercuts them. So it’s projecting weakness abroad.
And don’t forget the biggest mistake he’s made. I’m not like a hardcore anti-immigrant guy – I’m for legal immigration – but you’ve got to secure your border. And he could secure the border. He’s choosing not to do that – that is a policy choice he’s making. It’s a very dangerous policy choice.
He’s just giving the keys of the kingdom to the progressive left. And that’s what’s been governing his policies. I’ve known the man a long time. I personally like him. And in the past, he was more of a transactional moderate. That is not what he is today. And he just, for some reason, believed he needed to go left and and he’s staying there. And if he stays there, it’s going to cost him the presidency.
PR: [Biden and Trump] are playing identity politics, and it’s disturbing to me. Identity politics is politics that is built to divide people so that your coalition is slightly larger than the other person’s coalition, so you can win by division. Neither of these two guys are acting as unifiers. Biden presented himself as one, and now he’s not. So that’s why I’m in that world of never-Biden and never-Trump with a lot of people in this country because I just don’t think the kind of politics they’re providing are going get this country to drop our tribalism and start working together.
PR: Well, I’m sort of anti-establishment right now, so I think if we had a fairer fight for the soul of the conservative movement, the Republican Party, from where it is now, those would be the kinds of circumstances that would draw me back in, if I chose to do that. It’s not my plan, but by 2048 I’ll still be younger than Joe Biden and Donald Trump. So, a long time to go.
I think we have to get through this cult of personality moment to have a shot at building a more durable and more principled and more majoritarian conservative movement. And sure, of course, I want to be a part of that in some way [but] I don’t know what that would be.
What a piece of work. Back when he represented WI, he’d go on all the talk radio shows and say all the right things. He represented his constituents and was well liked.
Then, he got to DC and just couldn’t keep up the charade. What a waste. Especially those people who voted for him and found out what an A** he is.
Given my concerns about Paul Ryan’s character, I can’t vote for anyone he supports.
PRyno is no tail-gunner.
More of a Domestic Terrorist....
he’s not invited- i hope...
This guy talking about character is like a Jamaican talking about igloo construction.
What an FNPOS!
No, he is not the most prominent politician in Wisconsin history. He is the biggest traitor. Freaking media, always rewarding Republicans coming over to the dark side.
Results bias, you moron!
Tommy Thompson was much more prominent.
Ryan has a fragile ego and probably does not do well around alpha males. He will hold a grudge against Trump and let the country go down the shitter. He’s got fewer balls than Nikki Haley.
The snake comes out of his hole.
Ryan is the poster child for everything that is wrong with the Repugnant Party.
I remind our FR readers that RYAN has the tallest property perimeter fence around.
EVEN the Wisconsin Governor’s Mansion does not have that kind of fencing.
Idiot. He agrees with everything Trump plans as President, but still won’t support him. Foolish.
I get it he doesn’t like Trump. And, Trump has an unfortunate knack for ticking people off. But Ryan can only call out Trump and doesn’t say much at all about the political prisoners, lawfare, inflation, border etc. that people really care about.
Paul Ryan should go away and get a real job. He doesn’t seem qualified for anything, though.
Paul Ryan is one of the least respected republicans today. If he gives you an endorsement, don’t expect to win a primary. RINO Ryan is a trader. I don’t know why anyone would listen to him. He is poison in conservative circles, especially MAGA circles.
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