Hours after Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump delivered high praise for Vladimir Putin, House Speaker Paul Ryan had only harsh criticism for the Russian president and not a whole lot of praise for his own nominee.
“Vladimir Putin is an aggressor that does not share out interests. Vladimir Putin is violating the sovereignty of neighboring countries. It certainly appears that he is conducting state-sponsored cyber attacks on what appears to be our political system,” Ryan said at his weekly press conference in response to a question from TPM. “That is not acting in our interests.”
Pushed further, Ryan would not say if he was concerned about Trump’s affinity for Putin.
“I made my points about Putin clear. I will just leave it at that,” Ryan said.
It has been months since Congress has been in Washington and in that time Ryan’s and Trump’s relationship has been further strained. Trump refused to endorse Ryan in his primary election right away, and Ryan had harsh criticism for Trump’s attacks against a Gold Star family.
At his press conference Thursday, Ryan was asked directly what he thought about Trump hiring Steve Bannon to be his campaign CEO. Bannon has blasted Ryan for “rubbing his social justice Catholicism in my nose.”
Ryan smiled at the question.
The reporter then listed a few more high profile Trump debacles over the recess that included Trump attacks on the military.
“I’m not going to sit up here and do the tit for tat on what Donald said last night or the night before,” Ryan said. “That is not my job and I’m not going to be the election year pundit.”
Asked if he was still comfortable voting for him, Ryan responded “I will leave it at that.”
