Trump Unleashed: Paul Ryan ‘Weak, Ineffective & Stupid,’ ‘Almost Killed’ Republican Party

Paul Ryan, the failed V.P. candidate & former Speaker of the House, whose record of achievement was atrocious (except during my first two years as President), ultimately became a long running lame duck failure, leaving his Party in the lurch both as a fundraiser & leader……

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019

President Trump concluded the series of tweets by blaming Ryan’s “poor leadership” and “bad timing” for losing the majority in the House in November 2018. “Never knew how to go after the Dems like they go after us. Couldn’t get him out of Congress fast enough!,” he added.

….He had the Majority & blew it away with his poor leadership and bad timing. Never knew how to go after the Dems like they go after us. Couldn’t get him out of Congress fast enough!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019

As Breitbart News senior editor Joel Pollak reported Thursday, President Trump and Ryan shared a rocky relationship dating back to the last presidential election:

In the spring of 2016, he hesitated before accepting Trump as the party’s candidate, even though he was to chair the Republican National Convention at which Trump would be nominated. In the fall of 2016, Ryan infamously told members of the Republican caucus in the House that they did not have to defend the president when he was accused of using offensive language toward women in a leaked Access Hollywood video.

Once Trump was in office, the two forged a working relationship, albeit sometimes a rocky one. They worked together on passing tax reform. But Ryan and Senate Republicans failed to deliver on Republican promises to repeal and replace Obamacare. Ryan announced his retirement from Congress, several months before the 2018 midterm elections, leaving his party to fight the surging Democratic opposition without the benefit of a strong Republican leader in the House.

On Friday, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) came to Ryan’s defense, blaming himself for the pair’s loss in the 2012 presidential election to their Democrat rivals, former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden.

“The fault for our 2012 loss is mine alone; @SpeakerRyan was a tireless campaigner, fundraiser, and conservative champion. As the sole person who could unite the House, he acquiesced to be Speaker as a service to the country,” tweeted Romney.

“His selfless leadership and lifelong policy work were critical to the tax and regulatory reform that have helped propel the economy. A man like Paul Ryan does not often come along,” the senator added.

His selfless leadership and lifelong policy work were critical to the tax and regulatory reform that have helped propel the economy. A man like Paul Ryan does not often come along.

— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) July 12, 2019

Romney’s comments on Friday come as no surprise. The Utah senator quickly set himself apart from other new Republicans in the 116th U.S. Congress by attacking President Trump in an opinion-editorial for the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post, writing that the president’s “conduct over the past two years, particularly his actions last month, is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office.”

Though President Trump endorsed Romney in 2012, the senator heavily criticized then-candidate Trump during the 2016 presidential race, describing him as a  “con man,” and a “fake.” In a show of unity, president-elect Trump put aside Romney’s criticism and interviewed him for secretary of state, a job which ultimately went to former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson. During the 2018 midterm election, President Trump backed Romney’s Senate bid in Utah, an endorsement Romney gladly accepted.

Story cited here.