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Ryan Told House GOP They Could Abandon Trump After Access Hollywood Tapes

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 19: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) walks with President Donald Trump before a meeting with House Republicans at the United States Capitol Hill on Tuesday June 19, 2018 in Washington, DC. ... WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 19: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) walks with President Donald Trump before a meeting with House Republicans at the United States Capitol Hill on Tuesday June 19, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) told House Republicans on a conference call that they were free to abandon their support for then-candidate Donald Trump after the Access Hollywood tapes leaked.

“I am not going to defend Donald Trump,” Ryan said, according to an excerpt of congressional insider book “A Hill to Die On” obtained by Axios. “Not now, not in the future.”

Axios also reports that the book has details about fights the two men had over Trump’s desire to end birthright citizenship and to shift money away from expenses like fighter jets to pay for a border wall (“you can’t do that,” said Ryan).

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  1. This was widely reported at the time.

  2. Well, they didn’t abandon the Assaulter in Chief.
    They doubled down.

  3. That this didn’t happen in the end is just yet further confirmation of what we can see in public: that Trump still has his grasp on the GOP’s genitalia via the base.

    Related: It seems to me that this, too, is a risk of gerrymandered districts: that when your highly-selective demographic goes off the political rails yet you still want to be reelected, you can’t do the right thing and choose country over party and do your bit to give the voters a civics lesson–they’ve already been schooled by conservative media.

  4. “Not now, not in the future.”

    Statement later amended to, I will defend him now, and in the future, and look forward to him attacking me after my demise.

  5. Agreed… but the lazy media used it as an excuse to not point out the major deficiencies of tRump

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