Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) told NBC News through a spokesperson Friday that despite Republicans calling for him to enter the race for Speaker of the House, he’s still not interested.
Ryan spox to NBC News: “Chairman Ryan appreciates the support he’s getting from his colleagues but is still not running for Speaker.”
— Alex Moe (@AlexNBCNews) October 9, 2015
The news comes after Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and other party leaders had said they were campaigning for the House Ways and Means Committee chair, and that Ryan would take the weekend to consider entering the race to succeed John Boehner.
Paul has repeatedly disputed he would enter the race, and said Thursday after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) abruptly dropped out of the race: “I will not be a candidate.”
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) who announced his candidacy for Speaker earlier this week, also told NBC Friday he would step aside if Ryan decided to throw his hat in the ring.
This post has been updated.
That was fast.
Guess he couldn’t find his soul so called off the search.
Could it be that he’s waiting for the caucus to beg and plead with him to run, in accordance with his ego?
I can’t imagine that being the Speaker of Government Shutdowns is going to play well with his self-defined loftier election goals (e.g., President).
When the going gets tough the tough say “Sorry, not interested”
I gotta say…there may be someone, somewhere, who’s enjoying all this hoorah more than I am…but I doubt it.
Leadership