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Ryan: It's Up to the Delegates Whether or Not to Support Trump

June 19, 2016

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) said it is in the hands of the Republican convention delegates over whether to support presumptive nominee Donald Trump or not during an interview on Meet The Press.

In the clip noted by the Washington Examiner, host Chuck Todd asked Ryan, who is chairing the Republican National Convention, whether he thought delegates should be allowed to change their minds about Trump. The billionaire has far exceeded the requisite number of delegates to clinch the nomination.

"Shouldn't delegates, if they're having second thoughts about it, have an opportunity to express those second thoughts and be unbound and let the will of the convention decide for sure that they want him?" Todd asked.

"That's not my place to decide," Ryan said. "My place, because of this role I have which I feel has very important responsibilities, is to call balls and strikes and just play it by the rules. So it is not my job to tell delegates what to do, what not to do, or to weigh in on things like that. They write the rules. They make their decisions."

He added his role was mainly ceremonial and to ensure everything was done aboveboard.

"But the last thing I'm going to do is weigh in and tell delegates what to do, how to do their jobs," Ryan said.

"So if they decide to change the rules, which they can do, you're comfortable with however they change the rules?" Todd asked.

"You're asking the wrong person," Ryan said. "You should ask the party. You should ask Reince Priebus. You should ask the delegates."

Todd said if Ryan had an opinion, it would matter to them.

"My opinion is not relevant here," Ryan said. "I'm not going to tell the delegates how they should do their jobs, because I am chair of the convention."

Ryan has been at odds with Trump for weeks, despite saying he would vote for him. He called Trump's remarks about a judge of Mexican descent a "textbook" example of racism, criticized his proposed Muslim ban as not reflective of the party's principles, and reiterated Sunday that he continues to have policy disagreements with the presumptive nominee.

Trump has cratered in the polls in recent weeks, falling to a double-digit deficit behind Hillary Clinton as he's faced controversies over his racially charged remarks about the judge in the Trump University civil fraud case and his response to the Orlando terrorist attack.

"This is a very strange situation," Ryan said. "This is a very unique nominee."