‘Any Republican not named Trump’: Paul Ryan says former president is only candidate who would lose to Biden
Vocal anti-Trump former speaker believes candidate without former president’s baggage can win White House
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Former House Speaker Paul Ryan says he believes any 2024 Republican presidential candidate could beat incumbent president Joe Biden provided they are not named Donald Trump, but that it will be “a disaster if we nominate Trump”.
Mr Ryan, a Trump adversary and member of the board of Fox News’s parent company, made the remarks in an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Wednesday morning.
The former speaker was asked about comments made by former Republican representative Liz Cheney on Tuesday at a conference in which she warned Democrats that they are “playing with fire” if they assume they can beat the former president in the 2024 general election — should he win the GOP primary.
He said that Ms Cheney is right that Mr Trump “could win,” but Mr Ryan added: “I think we lose with him.”
“I think we’re much more likely to lose — we haven’t won anything with him since he first won in ’16,” Mr Ryan said of the former president. “We lost the House in ’18, the presidency in ’20, the Senate in ’20, and we could have won the Senate in 2022 but for him.”
Chris Christie attacks Trump for diverting campaign funds to legal battles: ‘Cheapest SOB I’ve ever met’
Kevin McCarthy walks back Trump criticism following backlash from Magaworld
Donald Trump countersues, seeking to turn tables on woman who accused him of rape
Trump fumes about ‘illegally leaked’ CNN tape of him boasting about classified documents
Host Joe Kernen joked that Mr Ryan might be told who to endorse by Rupert Murdoch due to his position at Fox News but the former speaker reiterated: “I’m for anybody not named Trump.”
He added: “Because I think we beat Biden for sure if we nominate a Republican not named Trump.”
Mr Ryan acknowledged that the Trump base does not like him as a “Never Trumper” but argued that voters will see that any of the other candidates do not carry the baggage that the former president does and the party can win with one of them.
On Tuesday, current House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told Squawk Box that he was not sure Mr Trump was the strongest candidate the Republican Party has in the primaries.
He later had to walk back those remarks in an interview with Breitbart, call the former president to apologise, and sent out a fundraising email saying that Mr Trump was stronger than ever.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments