Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump sounded mystified Friday while discussing House Speaker Paul Ryan’s decision not to back his campaign yet, saying he “figured routinely” Ryan would back his bid if he were to win the GOP nomination.
Speaking before a crowd in Omaha, Trump told supporters that he doesn’t “know what happened” with Ryan and that he was “surprised” with the speaker’s decision, which he announced Thursday afternoon.
“I don’t know. He called me two or three weeks ago, it was a very nice conversation. He was congratulating me — this is before we had the ultimate victory, but he was congratulating me on doing so well,” Trump said. “I figured routinely he’d be behind it, and he [went] the other [way] in a big surprise, because we’ve had so many endorsements.”
Trump then rattled off former Vice President Dick Cheney, 1996 GOP nominee Bob Dole and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, all of whom said they will back him for the nomination. But he couldn’t get over Ryan.
“But the one that we’re surprised at [was Ryan],” Trump said before saying that he was “not surprised” with the Bush family’s decision not to support him, pointing to former Presidents George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
“In all fairness,” Trump started, “I’ve been very critical of what happened during their term so I’m not surprised.”
For much of the address, Trump sounded a lot like he did while he campaigned in February and March, hitting a group of his former GOP foes (Bush and Lindsey Graham), while mentioning Hillary Clinton less than a handful of times throughout his 40 minute-long event.
Additionally, Trump was introduced by Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, who recently endorsed him despite much of his family being in the #NeverTrump crowd. The governor told the Omaha crowd that it’s “time we all now come together” to support the real estate mogul, but that didn’t stop Trump from taking a few barbs at his family, which owns the Chicago Cubs.
“I love Pete, but I think his brother doesn’t like me as much as he does,” Trump said at one point, referring to Todd Ricketts.
The presumptive GOP nominee also touted his support of ethanol while in Omaha, not far from Iowa, where he touted the message throughout January as he campaigned ahead of the first-in-the-nation caucuses.
“By the way, I like ethanol! Okay, is that okay?” Trump told the crowd. “Who the hell likes ethanol but Trump?”
