Update 9:23 PM: Friday evening, Speaker Paul Ryan issued a brief statement in which he said he was “sickened” by Trump’s comments on the 2005 videotape and that Trump “is no longer attending tomorrow’s event in Wisconsin,” a reference to the GOP unity event at which both men were scheduled to appear.
If there was ever a moment to run, this would be it.
On Friday, the Washington Post revealed that Trump had made a series of predatory and vulgar remarks about how he tried to seduce women while filming with Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood” in 2005. The revelation came just hours before House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) was scheduled to appear for the first time with his Republican presidential nominee—in his own backyard, no less.
After several calls Friday afternoon, Ryan’s office still hadn’t returned TPM’s requests for comment about whether Ryan still planned to appear with Trump Saturday in Wisconsin.
Since the beginning, Trump and Ryan’s relationship has been under a microscope. Ryan, a conservative policy stalwart, initially declined to endorse Trump. Then, after Ryan finally did declare his support for the party’s haphazard nominee, the House speaker spent months on Capitol Hill distancing himself from Trump on everything from his attacks on a “Mexican” judge to his aspersions on a Gold Star family.
Trump was so offended by Ryan’s tepid support that he temporarily refused to endorse Ryan in his primary, which Ryan went on to win in a landslide.
Ryan’s endorsement has given the speaker a tortured few months, although of course, it has always been within his power to walk away. He hasn’t, yet.
With Trump sinking in the polls, a historic House majority on the line in November’s election, and his own political future to consider, however, this may be the last, best chance Ryan has to ditch the top of the ticket.
