Sarah Palin said Sunday that House Speaker Paul Ryan's political career was likely over for his ambivalence over supporting presumptive 2016 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Palin, who endorsed Trump earlier this year, ripped Ryan (R., Wis.) on CNN's State of the Union for saying earlier this week that he was not "ready" to fully support Trump's presidential bid. Ryan said the nominee needed to unite the party and run a campaign Americans could proudly support. Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson suggested Ryan should no longer be Speaker if he did not come around.
"I think Paul Ryan is soon to be Cantor-ed, as in Eric Cantor," Palin said of the former House Majority Leader, who lost his primary in 2014. "His political career is over, but for a miracle, because he has so disrespected the will of the people. As the leader of the GOP, the convention certainly, he is to remain neutral, and for him to already come out and say who he will not support was not a wise decision of his."
Palin guessed Ryan was looking ahead to the 2020 election and trying to sabotage Trump for his own future political plans.
She was incorrect in her portrayal of Ryan having his mind made up not to support Trump. Ryan said he was not ready, but he did not rule out future support.
However, other prominent Republicans, such as fellow 2016 candidates Jeb Bush and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), have said they will not vote for Trump in the general election.
Host Jake Tapper asked Palin if she planned to support Paul Nehlen, Ryan's primary opponent in Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District who has announced he would support Trump. Palin said she would do whatever she could for Nehlen.
"Paul Ryan and his ilk again, their problem is they feel so threatened at this point that their power, their prestige, their purse will be adversely affected by the change that is coming with Trump and with someone like Paul Nehlen, that they're not thinking straight right now," she said.