Former President Donald Trump has many naysayers. Unfortunately, that sometimes includes those in his own party with their own agenda.
Paul Ryan, former GOP Speaker of the House and failed vice presidential candidate, doubts Trump’s chances for getting elected in 2024, the Washington Examiner reported. Ryan, whose own promising political career failed to materialize, said Trump is “not going to be the nominee.”
Ryan was speaking about the former president’s chances during an interview with Kevin Kajiwara, the political risk advisory co-president at Teneo. The management consultant company produces the “Insights Series” to talk with political, business, and academic movers and shakers.
“Whether he runs or not, I don’t really know if it matters,” Ryan told Kajiwara. “He’s not going to be the nominee, I don’t think,” the former Wisconsin congressman added.
“He’s going to try and intimidate people out of the race,” Ryan said, stating that Trump is “running a party based on fear and intimidation” that will come to an abrupt end. “I think Trump’s unelectability will be palpable by then,” Ryan said.
“We all know that he will lose. We all know that he is so much more likely to lose the White House than anybody else running for president on our side of the aisle, so why would we want to go with that?” Ryan said.
“The only reason he stays where he is is because everybody’s afraid of him. They’re afraid of him going after them, hurting their own ambition,” Ryan claimed. “But as soon as you get sort of the herd mentality going, it’s unstoppable.”
He further claimed that Trump is off-putting to Republicans and does poorly against Democrats. “It’s not like he is going to reverse the impression that suburban voters have on him. That cake is baked,” Ryan said before eventually downplaying Republicans’ midterm prospects as well.
Ryan was a rising star in the Republican Party until unceremoniously retiring from congress. Now he’s taking jabs at Trump, but it’s once again proof of his political incompetence.