Texas Republican Representative Troy Nehls lashed out at former GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan after Ryan announced he wouldn't be voting for former President Donald Trump in November.
Nehls referred to Ryan as a "piece of garbage" in remarks to CNN. His attack came after Trump became the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes. A New York jury last month found him guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels to illegally influence the 2016 election. His sentencing is set for July 11.
Earlier, Ryan appeared on Fox News host Neil Cavuto's show and said Trump is "unfit for office":
"In 2016 [we were] hoping there would be a different type of person in office and I think character is such an important issue. If you put yourself above the Constitution as he has done, I think you're unfit for office."
Ryan said there is "a combination of factors" that have demonstrated Trump's unworthiness and stressed the importance of abiding by an oath to the Constitution:
"The fact that you're willing to put yourself above the Constitution an oath you swear when you take office, whether it's federal office, president or member of Congress, you swear an oath to the Constitution and if you’re willing to suborn it to yourself, I think that makes you unfit for office."
You can hear what Ryan said in the video below.
When approached by CNN reporter Manu Raju for his opinion on Ryan's remarks, Nehls lashed out and said Ryan should be "kicked out" of the GOP for his disloyalty to Trump:
“Paul Ryan you’re a piece of garbage. You’re a piece of garbage and we should kick you out of the party. Don’t go spouting your mouth off and saying that you’re a conservative. You’re spitting in the face of the leader of our party. I mean grow up a little bit.”
You can hear Nehls' remarks in the video below.
These remarks are not a surprise coming from Nehls, who has previously attempted to curry favor with Trump's base and backed his "Big Lie" that the 2020 election was fraudulent despite all evidence to the contrary.
Notably, he admitted in an interview last year that the real reason House Republicans want to impeach President Joe Biden has everything to do with giving Trump's campaign an edge in 2024.
A USA Today report notes that Nehls "has not shied away from pushing for Biden’s impeachment in part to play politics. In the event that Trump—who was impeached twice—becomes the 2024 GOP nominee, Nehls said he wanted to give Trump “a little bit of ammo to fire back” by impeaching Biden as well.
Many called out Nehls for his response, including authoritarian expert Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat, who shed some light on the not-so-surprising reason Nehls might be lashing out like this.
Others piled on as well.
Ryan has previously said Trump should not run in 2024 because he is "more likely to lose the White House than anyone else."
In an interview with Teneo, a CEO advisory firm on whose board he serves as vice-chair, he suggested that Republicans would not be likely to select Trump as the GOP nominee because he is so polarizing, which would ultimately turn Republicans against him despite his attempts to intimidate them.
At the time, Ryan said Trump only "stays where he is is because everybody’s afraid of him," adding that Republicans are "afraid of him going after them, hurting their own ambition."
Still, Ryan bears at least some responsibility for Trump's ascendancy.
While Ryan was often critical of Trump, he regularly partnered with him on Republican legislative priorities—particularly a much derided overhaul of the tax code that drastically cut taxes for the wealthy—and publicly endorsed him in both 2016 and 2020.
Ryan's relationship with Trump caused him to fall out of favor among Democrats and Republicans alike and the once promising GOP star, who was named as the party's vice presidential nominee in 2012, quit Congress in 2019. Since then, he has maintained a relatively low profile and currently sits on the board of the Fox Corporation, receiving an annual salary of roughly $350,000.
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