Former President Trump slammed former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Friday after Ryan criticized Republican “flatterers flocking to Mar-a-Lago” to bow down to a Trump.
In his response, Trump couldn’t hide his envy of President Obama’s being reelected as he hammered Ryan as a clueless “RINO” and blamed him and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) for costing Republicans the White House nearly a decade ago when Ryan was Romney’s vice presidential nominee.
Trump said Ryan has been “a curse to the Republican Party,” before adding that the former House Speaker “has no clue as to what needs to be done for our Country, was a weak and ineffective leader, and spends all of his time fighting Republicans as opposed to Democrats who are destroying our Country.”
Trump’s attack on Ryan comes a day after Ryan delivered a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., warning of the political perils facing the Republican Party if it continues on its current trajectory.
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“If the conservative cause depends on the populist appeal of one personality, or on second-rate imitations, then we’re not going anywhere,” Ryan said in a clear reference to Trump.
He added: “Republican voters would not be impressed by the sight of yes-men and flatterers flocking to Mar-a-Lago,” the former president’s private club in Palm Beach, Fla.
It wasn’t the first time Ryan has found himself at odds with Trump and his most ardent supporters. He was sharply critical of Republican efforts earlier this year to challenge President Biden’s Electoral College victory, calling the objections “anti-democratic and anti-conservative.”
The back-and-forth between Trump and Ryan comes amid a fierce debate within the GOP over its direction in the post-Trump political environment. While most Republican officials and candidates continue to publicly align themselves with Trump, a vocal segment of the party has criticized that strategy, warning that fealty to the former president will cost the GOP long-term political success.
