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House Speaker Paul Ryan is definitively ruling out a bid for president this year, amid persistent speculation that he could emerge as the GOP nominee from a contested Republican convention. (April 12) AP
House Speaker Paul Ryan sought to rule out —
again — any possibility Tuesday of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>his potentially emerging as a consensus presidential candidate for Republicans at their convention this summer.
"Let me be clear: I do not want, nor will I accept the nomination for our party," he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said during remarks at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington.
"So let me speak directly to the delegates on this: If no candidate has a majority on the first ballot, I believe that you should only choose from a person who has actually participated in the primary. Count me out," Ryan said.
"I simply believe that if you want to be the nominee for our party – to be the president – you should actually run for it. I chose not to do this.<span style="color: Red;">*</span> Therefore, I should not be considered. Period.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>End of story."
Ryan made his initial announcement that he wouldn’t run more than a year ago, but he has been repeatedly dogged by speculation that he would eventually relent and accept the party’s nomination, as he did the speakership last fall.
The speculation has grown in recent weeks as he delivered a very presidential sounding speech on the state of politics. (“Our political discourse — both the kind we see on TV and the kind we experience among each other — did not use to be this bad and it does not have to be this way.”) <span style="color: Red;">*</span>He took a much publicized
trip to Israel. And his office released a very presidential-looking video, “Politics these days.”
Just in the last week,
The New York Times<span style="color: Red;">*</span>called him a “mirage candidate” running a “parallel campaign.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
The Hill ran a story, “Washington wonders: What is Paul Ryan up to?” and
The <span style="color: Red;">*</span>New York Observer<span style="color: Red;">*</span>floated the idea that he is planning a New York meeting with donors.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(It’s actually a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>National Republican Congressional Committee event,
Politico<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reports)
Ryan said Tuesday that what he has been doing since becoming speaker is focusing on communications and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>trying to put together policies that offer solid remedies Republicans can put forth.
"We have an obligation to give a clear picture – a clear choice --<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to talk about solutions," Ryan said. "That’s<span style="color: Red;">*</span>why I’ve been giving speeches,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that is<span style="color: Red;">*</span>why I’ve been communicating a vision for what our party and country can be. And that is why I’m going to continue doing just that."
In a Wisconsin radio interview earlier Tuesday, Ryan expressed surprise that the speculation about his potential candidacy has lingered and grown, even as he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>has consistently said he's not interested.
"It is just amazing how these things keep going," he said,
according to
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a member of the USA TODAY Network.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"I am going to try again today to put this to bed. The answer is no, and my strong opinion is if it goes to an open convention...my answer is the delegates should pick among the people who actually ran for president this year. I didn't ... I will not be nominated. I will not allow my name to be placed in nomination. And it will not be me. I don't know how I can be clearer than that."
USA TODAY
Paul Ryan running out of ways to say he’s not a presidential candidate
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