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Ryan grilled at Romney summit, where a CEO compares Trump to ...
Washington Post-3 hours ago
Campbell Brown, a former CNN anchor and founder of the education news site the74.org, moderated the session with Ryan and grilled him ...
What Happened at Romney's E2 Summit? Trump Was Compared to ...
Santa monica Observed-1 hour ago
PARK
CITY, Utah — House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) faced tough
questioning here Friday for his decision to endorse Donald Trump, and he
tried to explain to an audience hostile to the New York mogul the
factors that led him to back the presumptive GOP nominee.
Santa monica Observed-1 hour ago
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Ryan grilled at Romney summit, where a CEO compares Trump to Hitler
Ryan’s appearance briefly brought into the open the issue that has shadowed the annual ideas summit hosted
by 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney — the alarm with which many
establishment Republicans view Trump’s pending nomination and the
potential damage it could do to the party in November and beyond.
Ryan's closed-door
session — attended by about 300 elite Republican donors and business
executives — also highlighted his differences with his friend
and ally, Romney, who tapped him as his vice-presidential running mate
and is now an avowed leader of the Never Trump movement.
Campbell Brown, a former CNN anchor and founder of the education news site the74.org,
moderated the session with Ryan and grilled him about his decision. She
told him that her young son, who knows and admires Ryan, came into the
bedroom the morning after he had announced his support for Trump
dismayed by the news.
How would you explain this to a child? Brown asked Ryan. The speaker appeared uncomfortable.
Reporters
were excluded from the off-the-record session, but the exchanges were
described later by three people in the room spoke on the condition of
anonymity in order to share what had happened.
One
of the toughest questions for Ryan came from Meg Whitman, the chief
executive of Hewlett-Packard and a longtime friend of Romney's who
helped bankroll a Republican anti-Trump super PAC this spring. Whitman
asked Ryan how he could endorse someone with, in her judgment, such poor
character and whose campaign has been based on personal attacks and
division. According to two people present, Whitman said Trump is the
latest in a long line of historic demagogues, explicitly comparing him
to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
Ryan
explained the difficult political situation he was in, as the leader of
House Republicans. While spending a couple of weeks last month
deliberating about an endorsement, many of his members increased
pressure on him to back Trump. Many of them represent districts where
Republican voters are strongly supportive of Trump, Ryan explained.
Ryan
spent part of his appearance promoting his agenda for House
Republicans, including a robust discussion of national security and
efforts to eliminate poverty.
The audience
was described as largely anti-Trump yet sympathetic to Ryan's
predicament. Many are supportive of Ryan and have been for years.
One
attendee stood up to plead with Ryan, "Will you please run for
president in 2020?" The room erupted in applause. That assumes, of
course, that Trump is not the incumbent president getting ready to run
for reelection.
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