Ryan reaffirms support for Trump to rank-and-file Republicans

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) reaffirmed his support for Donald Trump as the GOP presidential nominee during a closed-door meeting Wednesday with rank-and-file Republicans.

Ryan explained that he’d lashed out at Trump a day earlier to try to put to rest a growing controversy over Trump’s remarks that a judge overseeing fraud cases against Trump University was biased against him because of the judge’s Mexican heritage.

Ryan described Trump’s remarks as the “textbook definition of a racist comment.”

{mosads}“Basically, [Ryan] said he did what he did so we could focus on our agenda in the House,” said a GOP leadership aide who attended the closed-door meeting of House Republicans in the basement of the Capitol.

Ryan’s remarks about Trump on Tuesday came at an event intended to highlight the House GOP’s ideas for alleviating poverty.

Republicans have been struggling to explain their support for Trump given the comments described by the Speaker as racist.

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) announced Tuesday that he would not vote for Trump, arguing he “has not demonstrated the temperament necessary to assume the greatest office in the world.”

After the Wednesday meeting, Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas), the head of the 170-member conservative Republican Study Committee, signaled he could not support Trump “at this time,” according to his spokeswoman. 

Flores wants to see Trump focus more on policy.

On Tuesday, Ryan also argued that Republicans would have a better shot at pushing through their policies under a Trump administration rather than a Hillary Clinton administration.

Ryan “was consistent” at the private Wednesday meeting, said one GOP lawmaker who backs Trump. “He said Trump represents the best chance at passing our agenda.”

Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said that her boss discussed with GOP colleagues the reason why he endorsed Trump last week and ways to “move forward.”

“He reiterated that he had confidence that Trump would support the House GOP agenda after having conversations with him, and that he would continue to speak out when he believes it’s necessary,” Strong said.

Trump argued in a statement Tuesday that his comments about Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was born in Indiana to Mexican immigrants, had been misconstrued. He also said he was done talking about the subject, but he stopped short of apologizing.

Later that night, Trump gave a speech from teleprompters that did not mention many of his more controversial stances, including the comments about Curiel, his proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States or his call to build a wall on the Mexican border.