Trump Blasts Paul Ryan After He's Quoted In Book Slamming President's Ignorance
A furious Donald Trump slammed Paul Ryan on Twitter Thursday night after the former House speaker was quoted in an upcoming book attacking the president’s ignorance about government and deploring his behavior.
Trump ripped the Wisconsin Republican in a trio of tweets, calling his “record of achievement ... atrocious.” Ryan quit Congress because he “didn’t know how to Win” and he “blew away [Republicans’ control of the House] with his poor leadership and bad timing,” Trump wrote. Ryan also failed to get him his border wall, Trump complained, adding: “Happening anyway!”
Paul Ryan, the failed V.P. candidate & former Speaker of the House, whose record of achievement was atrocious (except during my first two years as President), ultimately became a long running lame duck failure, leaving his Party in the lurch both as a fundraiser & leader......
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019
....When Mitt chose Paul I told people that’s the end of that Presidential run. He quit Congress because he didn’t know how to Win. They gave me standing O’s in the Great State of Wisconsin, & booed him off the stage. He promised me the Wall, & failed (happening anyway!)......
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019
....He had the Majority & blew it away with his poor leadership and bad timing. Never knew how to go after the Dems like they go after us. Couldn’t get him out of Congress fast enough!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019
On Saturday, Trump once again lashed out on Twitter, calling Ryan a ”[w]eak, ineffectual & stupid” politician who “almost killed the Republican Party.”
Politico correspondent Tim Alberta reports in his upcoming book, “American Carnage,” that Ryan didn’t seek reelection last year because he couldn’t bear continuing to work with Trump, according to The Washington Post, which obtained a copy of the book ahead of its Tuesday publication.
Alberta wrote that Ryan saw retirement as an “escape hatch,” that Ryan told Alberta that Trump “didn’t know anything about government” and that Ryan said he didn’t like Trump’s behavior, according to the Post’s report on Thursday.
“I told myself I gotta have a relationship with this guy to help him get his mind right,” Ryan recalled in the book, the Post reported. “Because, I’m telling you, he didn’t know anything about government . . . I wanted to scold him all the time.”
According to the Post, Ryan also told Alberta that “we’ve gotten so numbed by it all,” apparently responding to Trump’s behavior, adding: “Don’t call a woman a ‘horse face.’ Don’t cheat on your wife. Don’t cheat on anything. Be a good person. Set a good example.”
He also told Alberta he believed Trump’s actions were getting more problematic, the Post said.
“Those of us around him really helped to stop him from making bad decisions. All the time,” Ryan reportedly said. “We helped him make much better decisions, which were contrary to kind of what his knee-jerk reaction was. Now I think he’s making some of these knee-jerk reactions.”
A spokesperson for Ryan has pushed back against the idea that the former speaker retired because of Trump, telling The Hill that Ryan has “been very clear that he retired because he wanted to spend more time being a father and a husband.”
Despite Ryan’s reported quotes deriding Trump, many critics on Twitter said it was too little, too late to excuse his own behavior.
I'm on the House Floor looking under the seats for the spine of Paul Ryan. Haven't found it yet. pic.twitter.com/5Na7LADFxK
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) July 11, 2019
#PaulRyan is the entire Republican party: Silent, supportive, and complicit in the moment, horrified and disgusted later when it doesn't mean a damn thing.
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) July 11, 2019
A glimpse of Paul Ryan trying to be a hero after leaving office.... pic.twitter.com/WP2I2j2UKY
— News & Stuff (@YessGossip) July 11, 2019
Paul Ryan talking badly about Trump now is like someone saying they'd run into a burning building to save people after the building has already burned down.
— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) July 11, 2019
Thanka for sharing the TRUTH Paul Ryan. Unfortunately, it is too late for you now. You were part of how this was unleashed on America. https://t.co/pkZQromS1E
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) July 11, 2019
Dear Paul Ryan,
I’ve always wanted to meet you.
Love,
Your Spine.
https://t.co/70BjARpmYh— Eric Wolfson (@EricWolfson) July 11, 2019
"Don’t call a woman horse face. Don’t cheat on your wife. Don’t cheat on anything.”
I'd like to add to this list: Don't be a wimp. Don't follow blindly the sadistic Racism of Birtherism. Don't let yourself off the hook, Paul.#PaulRyanhttps://t.co/UoIYnr4nX1— Greg Morelli (@yesgregyes) July 11, 2019
The only thing holding @PRyan upright is the heavy starch in his shirts#PaulRyan #American #Coward
— TheOUTFront (@TheOUTFront) July 11, 2019
Too little. Too late. #PaulRyan #StepUpGOP
— Michelle Lefebvre (@WritingByLefave) July 11, 2019
Oh, I was so spoiled when Paul Ryan, that dipshit, hypocritical, dim-witted, weak-assed, unethical, cowardly wienie was duck-and-covering from the Trump shit-show in a transparent ploy for deniability intending to return at a later date pretending his grubby hands are clean.
— Hart Hanson (@HartHanson) July 12, 2019
Read The Washington Post’s article about “American Carnage” here.
This story has been updated with responses from Trump to Ryan’s reported comments and from Ryan’s spokesperson.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.