On Wednesday morning, House Speaker Paul Ryan added fuel to the Republican Establishment’s fantasies of defeating Donald Trump when he refused to rule out accepting the GOP presidential nomination via a chaotic convention fight.
However, in a sign that he’s trying to overcome his debilitating Superman complex, later in the day Ryan told Politico that there is “no situation” in which he will be the 2016 nominee. “I’ve been really clear about this,” he said. “If you want to be president, you should run for president. We should select our nominee from among the people who are running for president. Clear and simple. So no, I am not going to be the president. I am not going to be the nominee.” He added, “I am not going to become the president through Cleveland.”
Ryan stressed the point again when the Hill asked if there’s any way he could become the nominee. “No, there isn’t. ‘No’ is the answer. Definitively,” he said.
Some may recall that Ryan made similar denials before being bullied into being speaker, but that’s not why his thoughts on the matter are irrelevant. As Curly Haugland, a Republican National Committee member, explained in a Wednesday appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box, the entire idea that Americans freely choose their president by voting in primaries is a childish fantasy perpetuated by the media.
“That’s the problem: The media has created the perception that the voters will decide the nomination,” he said. “Political parties choose their nominee, not the general public, contrary to popular belief.”
If the Republican Party decides that Ryan will save them from Trump, he’ll save them from Trump and like it.
