Speaker Paul Ryan is facing backlash after he said he would not defend Donald Trump following the leaked video of a lewd conversation involving Trump.
Congressman Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma tweeted on Wednesday saying “Given the stakes of this election, if Paul Ryan isn't for Trump, then I'm not for Paul Ryan.”
Given the stakes of this election, if Paul Ryan isn't for Trump, then I'm not for Paul Ryan.
— Jim Bridenstine (@RepJBridenstine) October 12, 2016
Bridenstine reportedly voted for Ryan for speaker last year.
"When we split and when we fracture over this race, we are looking at a potential Hillary Clinton presidency," Bridenstine later told 2 Works for You. "We have over two dozen Republicans now that have backed away from our nominee ... and given the fact that this nominee is the only thing between Hillary Clinton and the presidency, we need to stick with our nominee."
While Ryan didn’t directly say that he was retracting his endorsement of Trump, he did say that he would no longer defend the nominee and instead focus his efforts on helping Republicans in the House and Senate races.
Ryan’s statement came after a video of Trump making vulgar comments toward women surfaced. Trump can be heard saying on an "Access Hollywood" bus that "When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything," and then later suggesting that because he’s a star he can “Grab them [women] by the p---y.”
Donald Trump tweeted in response to Ryan’s comments saying “Our very weak and ineffective leader, Paul Ryan, had a bad conference call where his members went wild at his disloyalty.”
Despite winning the second debate in a landslide (every poll), it is hard to do well when Paul Ryan and others give zero support!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2016
Our very weak and ineffective leader, Paul Ryan, had a bad conference call where his members went wild at his disloyalty.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2016
CNN reports that some of Trump’s “biggest supporters”encouraged the campaign to divert its attention to Democrats and not Ryan during a private conference call.
Ryan’s spokesperson, reports CNN, said that the speaker is “fighting to ensure we hold a strong majority next Congress, and he is always working to earn the respect and support of his colleagues."
Other Oklahoma politicians sent statements regarding the video.
Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe said “What Trump said about a married woman 10 years ago is disgusting, and I do not support women being talked about in such vial ways. The hypocrisy of Hillary Clinton to criticize Trump’s past is equally disturbing as her personal failings involved expensive, well-coordinated campaigns to bully and degrade women.”
READ THE FULL INHOFE STATEMENT HERE
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin said both Trump and Clinton are "very flawed and have made mistakes." Fallin goes on to say Trump's comments about women "were totally unacceptable."
READ FULL FALLIN STATEMENT HERE
What do you think? Should Paul Ryan retract his statement or do you agree with him?
