House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) shut down the rumors once and for all on Wednesday that he would be the GOP nominee in the event of a contested convention, Politico reported.
In a CNBC interview Tuesday, Ryan had refused to rule out the possibility of accepting the nomination if the party had a brokered convention.
“I’ve been really clear about this. If you want to be president, you should run for president. We should select our nominee from among the people who are running for president,” Ryan told Politico in an interview. “Clear and simple. So no, I am not going to be the president. I am not going to be the nominee.”
Former House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) endorsed Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the 2016 election, but said Wednesday that he’d support Ryan in a brokered convention if no candidate won on the first ballot.
Politico asked Ryan about that time he ruled out succeeding Boehner as House speaker, then did just that, drawing a parallel to his conflicting statements this week about accepting a GOP nomination at the convention.
“It was a different situation,” Ryan responded. “I’m already in Congress. That’s a totally different situation.”
