Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R) blamed former President Trump for Republicans’ Senate loss in the midterm elections.
Driving the news: “I was not a never-Trumper,” Ryan said on ABC’s This Week. “But I am a never-again Trumper. Why? Because I want to win. And we lose with Trump.”
- Ryan told ABC’s Jonathan Karl that Republicans could have won the Senate “had we had traditional Republicans in the general election.”
- “What we now know, it’s pretty clear is, with Trump, we lose,” he said. “I don’t mean this personally — it’s just evidence.”
- “It’s palpable right now. We get past Trump, we start winning elections. We stick with Trump, we keep losing elections, that’s just how I see it.”
The big picture: Looking ahead to the 2024 election, Ryan said that if Trump wins the nomination, Republicans “likely lose the White House.”
- “We probably lose the White House with Trump and if there’s someone not named Trump, my guess is we win the White House,” Ryan said.
- Trump this week announced his 2024 campaign for president.
- “He can get his people to the primaries, but they can’t win general elections. It’s really clear, I think the Republican voter is going to move on, that’s why I don’t think he ends up winning the nomination at the end of the day.”
- “I think we have a great stable of good, capable conservatives who are more than capable of winning this primary for presidency and winning the election. And I think Republican voters know that.”
Go deeper… Paul Ryan: “Anybody not named Trump” can win GOP nomination in 2024