Ryan ‘not worried about’ effort to oust him as Speaker

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) brushed off reports that President Trump’s former chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) are discussing potential replacements for him, saying he’s not focused on it. 

“I don’t worry about this stuff at all. Look, when I took this job at the request of our members, I knew it comes with lots of slander. This is not something I’m worried about or focused on,” Ryan told Fox News’s Martha McCallum on Thursday. 

Ryan’s comments come after The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Bannon and Meadows were talking about potential replacements for Ryan in the case that conservatives ousted him. 

{mosads}Bannon left the White House last month and returned to working at far-right news site Breitbart, which has frequently targeted Ryan.

Meadows is a part of the conservative Freedom Caucus, which has frequently bucked Republican leadership. 

Meadows, as well as fellow Freedom Caucus members Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Scott Perry (R-Pa.), met with Ryan to complain about his leadership earlier this week. 

The three members warned the House Speaker that conservatives could turn on him if he failed to pursue their agenda, according to the Post.