Kimmel slams Paul Ryan for soul searching: ‘You won’t ever find it’

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday took aim at Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) over reports that he is “soul searching” on whether he plans to remain in public office. 

Kimmel wrote on Twitter that “soul searching” won’t work for Ryan.

“Search all you want, you won’t ever find it,” he said in a tweet about the Wisconsin lawmaker. The tweet also linked to a CNN report with the headline, “Paul Ryan ‘soul searching,’ possible he could leave after 2018 election.”

Search all you want, you won’t ever find it https://t.co/jy2fhtoIMT

— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) December 14, 2017

On Thursday, Politico published a report detailing how Ryan has signaled in conversations with close confidants that he will retire after the 2018 midterm election. 

{mosads}

The GOP House leader, however, denied his plans to leave Congress, telling reporters later in the day after his weekly press conference: “I’m not, no.”

The rumors, which have been swirling for weeks, come after Ryan successfully passed tax reform in October — his top legislative priority.

“There is certainly a school of thought that says ‘leave on a high note.’ And passage of tax reform would be a high note for a guy that’s spent 18 years in Congress working on it,” one GOP lawmaker close to Ryan told The Hill last month.

Kimmel, the late-night host of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” has emerged as a fierce critic of President Trump and other Republican lawmakers. 

The comedian largely inserted himself into the debate about passing an ObamaCare repeal bill earlier this year, urging lawmakers to oppose the measure because it did not protect people with pre-existing conditions.