House Speaker Paul Ryan said he and Senior Counselor to the President Steve Bannon have a “common purpose” that can get them past their differences.
“I don’t really know him; I’ve gotten to know him two or three times. We’ve had few meetings; we got along fine,” Ryan told PBS Wednesday evening when asked about the former Breitbart News’ chief’s past criticism of the Wisconsin Republican.
“He’s not someone I have a history with, obviously. I didn’t know him when he was opposing me all those times,” Ryan said.
Bannon flayed Ryan when he succeeded former Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, as speaker in late 2015, going so far as to label him “the enemy.”
“We’re different kinds of conservatives; that’s something I can safely say, I think,” Ryan continued. “But we’re serving a purpose, which is to get this agenda passed. And on this agenda that we’ve rolled out, that we ran on, on that we agree.
“So I see a person which I have a common cause and purpose with,” he added. “We’re different kinds of conservatives. We really don’t know each other, but we’re all trying to get this agenda enacted. And that’s why I don’t see a problem here.”
