
On the very same day that resigning House Speaker Paul Ryan delivered his farewell address on the floor of Congress, fellow House Rep. Louie Gohmert revealed what may perhaps be the real reason why his relatively young colleague’s career has come to an unexpected end.
“Just a few weeks before the [2016] election, we were told by Paul, by our elected leaders that, gee, the only way we can keep the House majority is just all of us start running against the president,” Gohmert claimed during an interview on radio station WMAL “The Larry O’Connor Show.”
“Fortunately, we had enough people one after another on the call that pushed back so hard they backed off of that,” he added during his discussion Wednesday with guest host Derek Hunter.
Gohmert disseminated the shocking revelation during a broader discussion on how congressional Republicans seem to always be hijacking President Donald Trump’s agenda.
“[Trump]wants to work with people over here on the hill, and he’s just not used to — in the private sector — having people that are reputedly on his side conspiring to keep him from getting what he promised, and that’s that’s what we’ve seen,” the Texas congressman explained.
Listen:
The interview reportedly occurred sometime between 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm Wednesday afternoon, at least an hour after Ryan delivered his farewell address.
Last April the House speaker announced that he did not intend to seek re-election during the 2018 midterms. While many speculated about why he was calling it quits so early — he’s only 48 — the general consensus was that he just wasn’t that liked on Capitol Hill.
A poll conducted during the election two years ago found that among GOP voters, only a paltry 39 percent said they thought Ryan should be the leader of the Republican Party. An overwhelming 58 percent majority instead felt Trump deserved to be the leader.
And a Rasmussen poll conducted just last spring essentially found that “few Republicans would be sad to see Paul Ryan go.” The poll specifically found that only 20 percent of likely U.S. voters believed Ryan stepping down would bode badly for the nation.
The animosity against him began boiling after he announced in May of 2016 that he would not support then-presumptive GOP nominee Trump, saying, “I’m just not ready to do that at this point. I’m not there right now.”
The Wisconsin lawmaker’s stunning answer provoked massive outrage from the GOP base. Some conservatives even launched an online petition demanding he be removed as the chairperson of the 2016 Republican National Committee.
After Trump’s nomination months later, the House speaker announced that he refused to defend or campaign with him. That too didn’t help his image with the GOP base.
Because of this lingering animosity, most reacted quite negatively to his farewell speech:
No it’s not. It’s a perfect example of why the GOP fails at everything. They don’t play for keeps. I hate the left, but the reason the right loses every major battle is bc we play by the rules suggested in Ryan’s speech.
— Lucas Rizor (@beerandtokens) December 19, 2018
Rhino
— Samuel Gilbert (@Sammy_CG) December 19, 2018
“Here’s all the things I pretended to believe in but never had the guts or actual intentions to do but I’m sure it will win some browny points farewell speech”
— Kenneth Obloy (@KennethObloy) December 19, 2018
“Here’s all the things I pretended to believe in but never had the guts or actual intentions to do but I’m sure it will win some browny points farewell speech”
— Kenneth Obloy (@KennethObloy) December 19, 2018
Did he talk about why he didn’t get us a wall?
— cecil colwell (@cncolwell50) December 20, 2018
He should of gave it when he announced he was not running for re-election. Hanging around and not being an advocate for Trump wasn’t fulfilling his role as house leader.
— Mr Pomp (@tonypompliano) December 20, 2018
He should of gave it when he announced he was not running for re-election. Hanging around and not being an advocate for Trump wasn’t fulfilling his role as house leader.
— Mr Pomp (@tonypompliano) December 20, 2018
He should of gave it when he announced he was not running for re-election. Hanging around and not being an advocate for Trump wasn’t fulfilling his role as house leader.
— Mr Pomp (@tonypompliano) December 20, 2018
Ryan accomplished little during his tenure in part because of his habit of capitulating to Democrat demands and not fighting for what the base wants. To be fair, he shares this habit with House Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The expectation is that incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, will be far less cooperative with congressional Republicans as Ryan had been with her when she was part of the minority.
Watch Ryan’s farewell speech below:
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