PanamaTimes

Thursday, Feb 19, 2026

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan says he won't attend the 2024 Republican National Convention if Trump is the party's presidential nominee: 'I'm not interested in participating in that'

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan says he won't attend the 2024 Republican National Convention if Trump is the party's presidential nominee: 'I'm not interested in participating in that'

"I'll be here if it's someone not named Trump," Ryan told WISN-TV as he explained that his RNC attendance would be contingent on the GOP nominee.
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan in a recent interview said he won't attend the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee if former President Donald Trump earns the party's nomination.

Ryan, who represented a southeastern Wisconsin-anchored congressional district from 1999 to 2019 and served as speaker from 2015 to 2019, worked with Trump to pass the Republican-authored Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017.

But since leaving office, Ryan has strongly opposed Trump seeking a return to the Oval Office, having become convinced that the former president cannot win the presidency for the Republican Party in a general election.

While speaking with WISN-TV, a Milwaukee-area ABC affiliate, Ryan said he would attend the convention if the GOP selected a new candidate to become the standard bearer for the party.

"It depends on who the nominee is. I'll be here if it's someone not named Trump," the former lawmaker said.

When Ryan was asked if he'd ditch a convention with Trump as the nominee, even though the event will be held in his home state, he remained firm in his position.

"I'm not interested in participating in that, no. Even in Wisconsin," he said.

In the 2022 book, "Thank You for Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission," written by journalist Mark Leibovich, Ryan revealed that he was "very comfortable" with the decisions he made regarding Trump while still in office.

The former speaker dismissed critics who wanted him to be more vocal in rebuking Trump's behavior, something that most Republican lawmakers generally shied away from during the then-president's tenure in office.

Ryan posed the question of whether some people would have preferred that he went after Trump every time the then-president made a controversial comment.

"I think some people would like me to start a civil war in our party and achieve nothing," Ryan told Leibovich.

During an October 2022 interview on the Fox Business Network, Ryan reiterated his opposition to a third Trump White House campaign.

"I think anybody not named Trump, I think is so much more likely to win the White House for us. We know we're so much more likely to lose with Trump because of the fact that he is not popular with suburban voters that we're going to want to win," he said at the time.

Ryan further amplified his message last week, calling Trump a "proven loser" while speaking with The Washington Post.

"I guess in some places we're just going to keep recording losses until we learn the lesson," the ex-speaker told the newspaper. "I'm hopeful that for the presidency, we'll learn the lesson in time for 2024."

While Trump narrowly won Wisconsin against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016, now-President Joe Biden flipped the state back into the Democratic column in 2020.

However, Biden only won Wisconsin by roughly 20,000 votes out of nearly 3.3 million ballots cast, and the swing state is expected to once again be one of the most hotly-contested electoral prizes next year.
Comments

Oh ya 3 year ago
Nobody cares RINO. Thank you for not showing up

Newsletter

Related Articles

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
Unitree Robotics founder Wang Xingxing showcases future robot deployment during Spring Festival Gala.
Cuba adopts electric tricycles for transport amid fuel shortages
Cuba's fuel crisis leads to mounting waste in Havana
Eighty-Year-Old Lottery Winner Sentenced to 16.5 Years for Drug Trafficking
UK Green Party Considering Proposal to Legalize Heroin for an Inclusive Society
Investigation Launched at Winter Olympics Over Ski Jumpers Injecting Hyaluronic Acid
Wall Street Erases All Gains of 2026; Bitcoin Plummets 14% to $63,000
Cuba Warns It Has Only Weeks of Oil Remaining as US Pressure Tightens
The AI Hiring Doom Loop — Algorithmic Recruiting Filters Out Top Talent and Rewards Average or Fake Candidates
WhatsApp Develops New Meta AI Features to Enhance User Control
U.S. winter storm triggers 13,000-plus flight cancellations and 160,000 power outages
America’s Venezuela Oil Grip Meets China’s Demand: Market Power, Legal Shockwaves, and the New Rules of Energy Leverage
There is no sovereign immunity for poisoning millions with drugs.
President Trump Says United States Will Administer Venezuela Until a Secure Leadership Transition
Delta Force Identified as Unit Behind U.S. Operation That Captured Venezuela’s President
Trump Announces U.S. Large-Scale Strike on Venezuela, Declares President Maduro and Wife Captured
The Pilot Barricaded Himself in the Cockpit and Refused to Take Off: "We Are Not Leaving Until I Receive My Salary"
Hackers Are Hiding Malware in Open-Source Tools and IDE Extensions
White House launches ‘Hall of Shame’ site to publicly condemn media outlets for alleged bias
Families Accuse OpenAI of Enabling ‘AI-Driven Delusions’ After Multiple Suicides
Maduro Tightens Security Measures as U.S. Strike Threat Intensifies
U.S. Issues Alert Declaring Venezuelan Airspace a Hazard Due to Escalating Security Conditions
A Decade of Innovation Stagnation at Apple: The Cook Era Critique
Nancy Pelosi Finally Announces She Will Not Seek Re-Election, Signalling End of Long Congressional Career
Erling Haaland’s Remarkable Run: 13 Premier League Goals in 10 Matches and Eyes on History
White House Refutes Reports That US Targeting Military Sites in Venezuela
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Trump Accuses Colombia’s President of Drug-Leadership and Announces End to US Aid
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
FBI Strikes Deep in Maduro’s Financial Web with Bold Money-Laundering Indictments
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
New World Screwworm Creeps Within Seventy Miles of U.S. Border, Threatening Cattle Sector
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Trump Orders Third Lethal Strike on Drug-Trafficking Vessel as U.S. Expands Maritime Counter-Narcotics Operations
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
In a highly politically motivated trial, Brazil’s Supreme Court finds former leader Bolsonaro guilty of plotting coup
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
×