Former Republican leader and Fox News Board Member Paul Ryan refused to take a stance on the sexual content appearing in school library books in a “CBS Mornings” interview Tuesday.
Co-host Nate Burleson questioned Ryan on whether Republicans are taking a “good approach” in banning sexually explicit books from school libraries, to which Ryan offered no opinion.
“I’m not a culture war guy. I think it’s really polarizing,” Ryan said. “Look, on some of these issues, I’ll side with the anti-woke crowd but, to me, I’m worried about a debt crisis, I’m worried about the future of our country in China. There are big policy problems that we need to tackle if we want to have a great 21st century for this country.”
The former House Speaker said the culture war is “good” and “effective” in the primary election process, but that it does not solve real issues facing the U.S. (RELATED: White House Spokesperson Says Banning Sexually Explicit Books Threatens ‘Civil Rights’)
“Culture war politics is good primary election politics,” Ryan continued. “It’s very decisive, but … it’s effective politics, I’ll grant you that. But for me, I’m an old Jack Kemp guy. I believe in inclusive, aspirational politics. Solve problems, we’ve got huge problems. We’ve got a debt crisis coming, we’ve got to get on top of that. Neither Biden nor Trump are good on this issue.”
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently read excerpts of explicit books available in public school libraries. One book called “Gender Queer” included a girl masturbating and performing oral sex on another girl and equated the removal of a woman’s breasts to getting a tattoo, video showed. Another book, “Flamer,” is the story of a gay boy who experiences several sexual interactions.
In Fairfax County, Virginia, two books — “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison and “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe — depicted pedophilia and sexual acts between men and underage boys. They were both banned and later reinstated in November 2021.