Ryan rebukes Trump over ‘riots’ remark

by Scott Wong - 03/17/16 12:59 PM ET

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday rebuked GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump for a fourth time — this time for suggesting there could be “riots” if Trump doesn’t win the nomination at this summer’s convention in Cleveland.

“Nobody should say such things, in my opinion,” Ryan told reporters in the Capitol, “because to even address or hint at violence is unacceptable.”

{mosads}As chairman of the GOP convention, Ryan is neutral in the GOP primary race, but he’s clashed with Trump on a number of occasions.

Earlier this week, the Speaker suggested Trump needed to take some responsibility for some of the violence that has broken out at his recent rallies, calling it “very concerning.” Ryan recently scolded the billionaire businessman for failing to forcefully disavow an endorsement from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

And last year, Ryan blasted Trump for proposing a ban on Muslims from entering the United States, calling it unconstitutional and un-American.

“If anybody, not just Donald Trump, if anybody is out there representing the Republican Party in ways that we believe disfigures conservatism … I, as a party leader, and others I assume as well have an obligation to defend our principles from being distorted. And we’re going to continue doing that,” Ryan said Thursday.

But he previously has said he will support whoever wins the GOP nomination, and on Thursday said he did not believe he will have to denounce Trump’s candidacy.

Tags Donald Trump Paul Ryan