Paul Ryan: I'm Voting for Trump

He reveals his support in new column
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 2, 2016 3:34 PM CDT
Paul Ryan: I'm Voting for Trump
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 3, 2016.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

A month after saying he wasn't ready to do so, Paul Ryan endorsed Donald Trump Thursday via a guest column in the speaker's hometown newspaper, the Washington Post reports, noting that the move likely signals Ryan's desire to unite the GOP in order to ensure the House and the Senate stay in the Republican party's hands after the coming election. House Republicans have spent months putting together "a policy agenda that offers a better way forward" for the USA, Ryan explains in his Janesville Gazette column. That agenda involves "a better tax code," an ObamaCare replacement, national security and foreign policy changes, regulation reforms to give the economy a boost, proposals for decreasing poverty, and more, Ryan says.

"To enact these ideas, we need a Republican president willing to sign them into law. That’s why, when he sealed the nomination, I could not offer my support for Donald Trump before discussing policies and basic principles," Ryan writes. The two men have now had many such discussions, and now Ryan says he feels confident Trump would help the GOP enact its policy agenda. "It’s no secret that he and I have our differences. I won’t pretend otherwise. And when I feel the need to, I’ll continue to speak my mind. But the reality is, on the issues that make up our agenda, we have more common ground than disagreement." Ryan, who doesn't actually use the word "endorse" in the column, says he'll be voting for Trump. As the Post notes, Ryan is "the last senior Republican congressional leader to throw his weight behind Trump’s candidacy." (More Election 2016 stories.)

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