Former House Speaker Paul Ryan wants “to be clear” about a statement he made earlier this week that suggested Democrats could defeat President Donald Trump in 2020.
“To be clear, GOP wins elections when they’re about ideas not when they’re personality conflicts like Dems & media want,” Ryan tweeted Wednesday. “We’re clearly better off because of @RealDonaldTrump. His record of accomplishments is why we’ll win re-election especially when compared to Dems’ leftward lurch.”
To be clear, GOP wins elections when they’re about ideas not when they’re personality contests like Dems & media want. We’re clearly better off because of @RealDonaldTrump. His record of accomplishment is why he’ll win re-election especially when compared to Dems’ leftward lurch.
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) March 13, 2019
Ryan originally created a stir when he suggested Monday that President Donald Trump could lose the 2020 presidential election if the race focuses on Trump’s personality.
“The person who defines that race is going to win the race. If this is about Donald Trump and his personality, he isn’t going to win it,” Ryan predicted. (RELATED: Paul Ryan: ‘Sometimes’ Trump Can Be A Unifier)
Ryan was in Vero Beach, Florida, participating in a lecture series when he also said he believes there are some Democrats who could win the 2020 presidential election, TCPalm reported.
Ryan, a former Republican Wisconsin congressman who served as Speaker of the House for four years, seemed to have an uneven relationship with Trump, appearing sometimes as an ally and at other times an adversary. (RELATED: Paul Ryan Predicts Why Trump May Not Win In 2020)
Ryan was pointedly critical of Trump during the 2016 primaries and did not support his candidacy. After Trump won the GOP nomination, Ryan seemed less than enthusiastic but, more or less, advanced the president’s policies in the House of Representatives where the Republicans enjoyed a majority at the time. In January, during the partial government shutdown, Trump blamed Ryan for not securing funding for a border wall when he had the opportunity to do so, according to one report.