Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was asked last night if he believes Speaker of the House Paul Ryan actually wants him to win to which Trump said Ryan may be thinking about his own run.
When asked by ABC News' Tom Llamas before a campaign event tonight in Green Bay, Wisconsin, whether he believed Ryan wanted him to win the race to the White House, Trump responded, "Well, maybe not, because maybe he wants to run in four years or maybe he doesn’t know how to win."
If it were true that Ryan isn't supporting Trump because he's looking forward to his own run in four years. that would actually be a less heinous explanation for his current behavior.
Ryan may not be as enthusiastic about Trump's candidacy as Trump would like, but Ryan still supports him. Ryan is still making the case that Trump is a better option than Hillary Clinton. Ryan is doing this because he wants to cut taxes for the rich, repeal Obamacare, privatize Medicare, and shred our social safety nets.
Ryan would sacrifice anything to realize the Randian fantasies he's been dreaming about since he was a college freshman. Ryan would sacrifice his dignity, the dignity of the United States, and Democracy itself to pass his granny-starving budget.
Paul Ryan is an ideological animal and we'd all be better off if his own political future was all he really cared about. We'd be better off if he was a typical, self-interested politician. Ryan's ideas aren't actually popular with voters and were already overwhelmingly rejected in 2012. They would easily be rejected again in 2020. Ryan isn't running for president because he knows gerrymandered control of the House is the only thing that enables him.