Speaker of the House Paul Ryan at a CNN town hall in Wisconsin criticized President Trump’s speech on Tuesday (Aug. 15) in which he embraced white nationalism.
Ryan said, Trump “made comments that were much more morally ambiguous, much more confusing, and I do think he could have done better.”
-- “I do believe he messed up in his comments on Tuesday when it sounded like a moral equivocation or, at the very least, a moral ambiguity, when we need extreme moral clarity.”
-- “It should not be about the the president. This is not about Republicans or Democrats. This shouldn’t be about some vote in Congress or some partisan issue. This is so much more important than that,” Ryan said. “This issue speaks to humanity, our country, our society, our culture.
-- “Every single one of us needs to unify against this repulsive, repugnant, vile bigotry. That is so important.”
-- “I have a hard time believing if you are standing in a crowd protesting something, and you see all these anti-Semitic slogans, and the ‘Heil Hitlers’ and the swastikas, and you are good with that, then you are not a good person.”
Ryan’s denunciation was exactly right when it came to “anti-Semitic slogans, and the ‘Heil Hitlers’ and the swastikas,” but not strong enough when it came to Donald Trump. Trump did not mess up. It wasn’t a mistake. Trump’s remarks were made because he supports white nationalism.
By Scott Wong
