Paul Ryan, a former Republican speaker of the House, has declared he will not attend the Republican National Convention in his home state of Wisconsin if former President Donald Trump is the party’s 2024 nominee.
On Friday, Ryan made it plain he would never endorse Trump and would only attend the Republican convention if “someone not called Trump” became the party’s nominee. In the event Donald Trump is chosen as the Republican nominee, the former speaker said the party will lose the general election.
The reporter questioned Ryan, “Where will you be in 2024 when the Republican National Convention is held in Milwaukee?”
“It depends on who the candidate is,” Ryan said. While he “is not interested in engaging in it,” he promised to be present “if it’s somebody not called Trump.”
The reporter was puzzled, “Even in Wisconsin?”
Even in Wisconsin,” Ryan said emphatically.
Milwaukee will host the 2024 Republican National Convention from July 15th through the 18th. Trump won Wisconsin in 2016 with 47.2% of the vote to Clinton’s 46.5%, but he barely lost it to Biden in 2020. The importance of Wisconsin as a swing state in 2024 is demonstrated by the fact that the GOP will conduct its first debate there in August.
The former speaker branded himself a “never-again Trumper” in November, just after Trump announced his third candidacy for the White House. The “Trump factor,” he claimed, was to blame for the Republican Party’s past electoral defeats under the previous president. On Friday, Ryan said in an interview that the GOP “lost with him in ’18, in ’20, and in ’22,” adding that “he will cost us another election.”
Another survey, this one conducted by Harvard’s CAPS-Harris and released on February 17th, paints a different picture: in a hypothetical matchup with President Biden, Trump would win with the backing of 46% of respondents, while Biden would receive 41% and 13% would be undecided. Trump wins the same survey by 9 points over Harris, the Democratic vice presidential candidate. In a hypothetical eight-way Republican primary, the survey suggests that the former president would win 37% of the vote, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ 19%. Nikki Haley, who has already declared her candidacy, is pitted against ex-Vice President Mike Pence, Marco Rubio (R-FL), Mike Pompeo (R), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Tim Scott (R) (R-SC).
Ryan said of the GOP race, “I’m simply happy about anyone not called Trump.” When asked about the candidates, he said, “Excellent individuals are running, I know them all, and they are all very nice friends of mine.”