House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said Thursday that his endorsement of Donald Trump does not give the Republican nominee “blank checks.”
The comment came while Ryan was addressing Trump’s hesitance to endorse him in his primary.
“The only endorsements that I want are those of my own employers here in the First Congressional District. And that’s really what my focus is,” Ryan said on Wisconsin radio station WTAQ about Trump’s snub before pivoting to his own endorsement of the GOP nominee.
“As you know, when I first talked about this, when I did support Donald, I said at that time, and ever since then, if I see a situation where our conservative principles are being distorted, I’m going to stand up for those conservative principles,” Ryan continued. If I see and hear things that I think are wrong, I’m not going to sit by and say nothing. Because I think I have a duty as a Republican leader to defend Republican principles and our party’s brand if I think they’re being distorted.”
When asked if there could “ever be a bridge too far” that might prompt him to pull his endorsement of Trump, Ryan indicated that he hasn’t given Trump a blank check, but he would not expand further.
“I’ve always said, of course, there are — I’m not going to get into the speculation or hypothetical,” he said. “None of these things are blank checks. That goes with any situation in any kind of race.”
