House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday Republican frontrunner Donald Trump’s remarks that there would be “riots” if he didn’t get the party’s nomination at the convention were “unacceptable.”
“Nobody should say such things, in my opinion, because to even address or hint to violence is unacceptable,” Ryan said in a news conference.
He also fueled speculation that the Cleveland convention could be contested.
“We’re getting our minds around the idea that this could very well become a reality, and therefore, those of us who are involved in the convention need to respect that,” Ryan said, according to Politico.
Trump said yesterday while he expects to secure the nomination before the convention in July, “you’d have riots” if he arrived just short of the 1,237 delegates needed.
It’s not the first time Ryan has distanced himself from the bombastic candidate’s remarks. After Trump proposed a ban on Muslim immigration, Ryan responded such plans are “not what this party stands for.” The Wisconsin congressman also slammed Trump for not immediately denouncing an endorsement from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
But Ryan has also insisted he will back the GOP nominee no matter what and said Wednesday he would not accept the party’s nomination if it was offered to him in a brokered convention.
