Rep. Darrell Issa is making a distinction between Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
“He is not the voice of the party — he is a voice,” the California Republican told Jon Karl and Rick Klein in an interview on ABC News’ “Powerhouse Politics” podcast released Friday.
“His voice is the voice of the man we will put before the voters to be president of the United States,” said Issa, who endorsed Trump this month.
Issa explained his reasoning in that Trump will control only one branch of government and influence the other two.
House Speaker Paul Ryan will be a “co-equal” voice in the GOP, Issa said.
“Paul Ryan is our speaker and I expect will be our speaker in the next Congress and he will be a co-equal voice,” Issa said. “He will speak for the legislative branch … that is every bit important.”
Issa said he will be a Trump delegate and looks forward to help making him the next president. But that isn’t a shoo-in for Trump to get his, or other Republicans’ support.
“Holding the next president accountable is Paul Ryan’s job, it’s Darrell Issa’s job, it’s Nancy Pelosi’s job, we cannot just hand over anything to one person. We’re not that kind of government, ” Issa elaborated, calling Trump a “spokesman.”
“Paul Ryan takes very seriously, as I do, the fact that we are a separate co-equal, and when Donald Trump is president, he will face some of the same pushback from time to time,” Issa said.
According to Issa, Trump as president and the GOP would “not [be] a team and we’re not a rubber stamp.”
Also in the podcast, Issa said he expects the GOP will eventually come together to unify, and then Ryan will endorse Trump.
“I’m confident that Speaker Ryan either will have, or will support the nominee with an endorsement,” he said, adding that Ryan is going through a “process” to endorse Trump.
Ryan “is going to be a unifier and that will include the endorsement of Donald Trump, not later than the third day of the convention,” Issa concluded.
