Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has endorsed Donald Trump, but he doesn’t seem to be enjoying it very much.
In an op-ed published in his hometown Wisconsin paper, the Gazette-Extra, Ryan stressed that the practical need for a Republican president supersedes the ideological differences between the two men.
“We’ve talked about how, by focusing on issues that unite Republicans, we can work together to heal the fissures developed through the primary,” he wrote, presumably referring to a much talked-about meeting in early May. “Through these conversations, I feel confident he would help us turn the ideas in this agenda into laws to help improve people’s lives. That’s why I’ll be voting for him this fall.”
As recently as early May, Ryan refused to endorse Trump, who clinched the GOP nomination at the end of the month. “I’m just not ready to do that at this point. I’m not there right now,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview.
A spokesperson for the House speaker confirmed to The Gazette-Extra that the column is indeed an official endorsement of the Trump campaign.
It appears, however, that Ryan’s endorsement may be more inspired by presumptive Democratic nominee: “A Clinton White House would mean four more years of liberal cronyism and a government more out for itself than the people it serves. Quite simply, she represents all that our agenda aims to fix.”