Conservative writer Charles Krauthammer said House Speaker Paul Ryan is only being realistic by continuing to support Donald Trump in the face of a growing controversy that threatens to engulf the Republican nominee’s campaign.
“In the end, Ryan called an armistice,” Krauthammer wrote Thursday in the Washington Post. “What was he to do? Oppose and resign? And then what? What would remain of conservative leadership in the GOP? And if he created a permanent split in the party, he’d be setting up the GOP’s entire conservative wing as scapegoat if Trump lost in November.”
This entire week, Trump and GOP leaders who endorsed him, including Ryan, have faced scrutiny over accusations the businessman made against a federal district judge who is presiding over a fraud lawsuit against him.
Trump had said publicly on multiple occasions that the judge, Gonzalo Curiel, had an “inherent conflict of interest” in the case because he is of Mexican descent, though he was born in Indiana.
Ryan called the accusations a “textbook definition” of racism but would not disavow his support for Trump.
“Ryan had no good options,” wrote Krauthammer. “He chose the one he felt was least damaging to the conservative cause to which he has devoted his entire adult life.”
