Shortly after it became clear that Donald Trump would be the GOP presidential nominee, House Speaker Paul Ryan said to much fanfare that he was not prepared to endorse Trump because the candidate had shown an unwillingness to unify the Republican Party.
Ryan, who has criticized Trump for his brief refusal to disavow the support of white nationalist David Duke and his proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the country, emphasized that Trump must bring Republicans together and outline his beliefs about limited government if he wants his endorsement.
Trump went on to criticize Ryan and other Republicans, including Ryan’s 2012 running mate, Mitt Romney, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. When Trump lashed out at Republican New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez while campaigning in her state last week, Ryan defended her. Trump has also made a point to assure voters that he won’t act “presidential” and that he hasn’t changed any of the extremist views that he espoused during the primary race.
Despite the fact that Trump has not done absolutely anything that Ryan asked of him, Ryan endorsed him anyway today in an op-ed for his hometown paper:
I’ll be voting for @realDonaldTrump this fall. I’m confident he will help turn the House GOP’s agenda into laws. https://t.co/LyaT16khJw
— Paul Ryan (@PRyan) June 2, 2016
Now that he’s officially gotten behind Trump’s campaign, the mythical image of Ryan as a principled conservative visionary can finally be put to rest.
