Paul Ryan: Romney’s decision ‘bittersweet’

Two days after Mitt Romney decided to bow out of the 2016 presidential race, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) praised his former running mate, adding that the former Massachusetts governor would have made a “fantastic president.”

“It’s bittersweet to me,” Ryan said.

“I was going to support Mitt whatever it is he decided to do.”

Ryan called the decision by Mitt to step aside a “perfect-style Mitt Romney decision.”

“Country first. He did what he thought was right for the country,” he said.

Now that Romney is out of the race, Ryan said that he’ll have to stay neutral. He’s the chairman of the Republican National Committee’s presidential trust, which manages party money that’s allocated for the general election.

But Ryan had kind words for his home state governor, Scott Walker (R-Wis.), who is weighing a bid for president. Walker leads brand new polling in Iowa from The Des Moines Register, attracting 15 percent of Republican voters.

“Scott Walker is a great governor, he’s a good friend of mine,” he said.  

“He’s a reform governor and he’s done some amazing things.  We like to say in Wisconsin that he’s so good he got elected governor three times in four years.”

After his election in 2010, Walker won a recall vote in 2012 and reelection in 2014. 

The chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means committee also said that he hasn’t given any thought to reprising his role as the vice-presidential nominee.

“I decided early on in this year to pull myself out of the presidential contention,” he said.

“I think I can make an enormous difference for our country where I am and help our party put together an optimistic agenda for the country to show how to restore a healthy economy.”