House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Wednesday said Republicans are sticking with President Donald Trump and his policies, despite a thorough state-level rout Tuesday night as Democrats won coast-to-coast victories.
“Democrats are saying, this is the beginning of our turnaround. What do you take from Ed Gillespie’s significant loss yesterday?” Fox News host Brian Kilmeade asked Ryan on his radio show, referring to the Virginia gubernatorial race.
“Obviously, you know, Democrats are going to do that, and we would be saying the same kind of thing,” Ryan said. “That’s the way the spin works on these things.”
Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) swept to a blowout victory in Virginia’s gubernatorial race over former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie.
Ryan said the election results show that Republicans need to pass legislation.
“We’ve got to get our job done,” he said.
Asked whether elected Republican officials are having second thoughts about adopting Trump’s policies and positions wholesale after their Election Day rout, Ryan said Republicans “already made that choice.”
“Is it going to be a choice for Republicans, Bush or Trump?” Kilmeade asked, referring to former President George W. Bush.
“We already made that choice. We’re with Trump. We already made that choice. That’s a choice we made at the beginning of the year. That’s a choice we made during the campaign,” Ryan said. “We ran on a joint agenda with Donald Trump.”
Voters rejected that agenda on Tuesday, and Democratic candidates swept statewide offices, beating Republican candidates who adopted Trump’s rhetoric and policies as their own.