(USA Features) Donald Trump clapped back at Paul Ryan, the former GOP House Speaker from Wisconsin, after he criticized the former president’s political influence over the GOP.
“RINO Paul Ryan, who became a lame duck Speaker of the House, lost all vote-getting capability with the people he represented in Wisconsin, and was the single biggest factor, other than Romney himself, for the monumental Romney/Ryan loss in the Presidential race of 2012 (I got more votes by far, 75M, than any sitting president in history!), and he is now speaking to other Republicans telling them how to win elections,” Trump said in a statement to his social site on Friday.
“Interestingly, I was in the Great State of Wisconsin when they booed him off the podium—I literally had to come to his rescue. Ryan should instead be telling them how to stop the cheating of elections and that we would have won if Republican leadership fought the way the Democrats did,” he added.
“It was the day that Ryan went on the board of Fox (Fox will never be the same!) that Fox totally lost its way and became a much different place, with millions of its greatest supporters fleeing for good,” he noted further. “Paul Ryan has been a curse to the Republican Party. He 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.”
“As a Republican, having Paul Ryan on your side almost guarantees a loss, for both you, the Party, and America itself!” Trump wrote.
Ryan spoke Thursday at the Reagan Library in California, where he heavily criticized Trump’s record and his influence on the party.
“It was horrifying to see a presidency come to such a dishonorable and disgraceful end,” Ryan said about the January 6th riots.
“Once again, we conservatives find ourselves at a crossroads,” Ryan noted further. “And here’s the reality that we have to face: If the conservative cause depends on the populist appeal of one personality, or on second-rate imitations, then we’re not going anywhere. Voters looking for Republican leaders want to see independence and mettle. They will not be impressed by the sight of yes-men and flatterers flocking to Mar-a-Lago.”
Trump also blasted Ryan’s appearance at Reagan’s library, which he suggested tarnished the late president’s conservative bona fides.
“Ronald Reagan would not be happy to see that the Reagan Library is run by the head of the Washington Post, Fred Ryan,” said Trump. “How the hell did that happen? No wonder they consistently have RINO speakers like Karl Rove and Paul Ryan. They do nothing for our forward-surging Republican Party!”