Following multiple reports that Republican party infighting may soon cost Paul Ryan (R-WI) his speakership, Ryan reportedly wrangled up his closest colleagues on Tuesday for a closed door meeting to vent, according to The New York Times and the Washington Post.
At the meeting, Ryan reportedly lectured his colleagues about sticking together and behaving “as though they are in the majority,” per the Times. He also expressed his irritation with the embarrassing dismantling of the farm bill last week, which conservatives sank amid a broader debate over immigration policy, and said he thinks the “political winds” were finally blowing in Republicans’ direction, according to the Post.
Ryan was reportedly so worked up that he even “used the word ‘crap’ once,” Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) told reporters.
“For Paul Ryan, ‘crap’ is pretty blue language,” he said.
Despite Ryan’s apparent frustration, the meeting ended well— with a standing ovation that could be heard in the hallway, according to the Post.
While the White House has been tight lipped about its opinion on who Ryan’s successor should be ever since Ryan announced his retirement in April, one senior White House official told the Post that the White House is unsure if Ryan should remain speaker through the end of his term.
Once?? Is that enough?
If not for the “infighting,” Ryan would have been one of the great Speakers.
Next!
Here is why you don’t resign as Speaker in the middle of a midterm. Especially with such a divided caucus. Especially, especially when there is no clear successor.
That being said, I don’t think the GOP is going to stage a coup to oust a guy already heading for the exit. They want Ryan to be the scapgoat for their upcoming losses in November. And he will be. My guess is that fact is having more than a little to do with Ryan saying “Crap”.
There is a certain humor in this, however. Ryan telling his people to suck it up and tough it out with the upcoming midterms…which he won’t be dealing with because he personally quit. Its kind of like the starting QB storming off the field to pout, then yelling at his teammates for losing the game.
Oh my!. He used the word “crap”. Cover your ears, Mabel! Even in a heated argument with the batshit members of his party that he helped create he always remembers to try to protect his false media-generated image and won’t use the words “shit” or “bullshit” like a real human being. I’d call him a phony but that’s an insult to all the actual hard-working phonies of the world.
Well, here’s a phrase I and many others have used on TPM far more than “once”: Paul Ryan is a fucking turd.
"…one senior White House official told the Post that the White House is unsure if Ryan should remain speaker through the end of his term. "