Paul Ryan: A Study in Losing Power

How? How did we get here? How did we arrive at Trump? Ross Douthat, the youngest op-ed writer in The New York Times’ history, and a noted religious conservative, came to the Academy Monday and Tuesday to share his thoughts on the state of the Republican party and how we ended up with Trump. In his talks, Douthat documented the GOP’s move into a post-religious right wing, “The religious right has lost the culture war.” Yet the religious right is not the only loser in this election cycle.

It seems that when it comes to Trump, everyone loses. Among many others, immigrants lose when they feel the verbal and physical abuse of some xenophobic Trump supporters, minorities lose when Donald Trump belittles them with comments such as, “You’re living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs,” and the First Amendment loses when Trump de-legitimizes its advocates by openly supporting the violent and uncalled-for physical and verbal assault of American citizens who are simply demonstrating their rights to peacefully protest at his rallies.

By refusing to take a strong stance against Trump, Paul Ryan enabled Trump’s destructive rhetoric to take hold.

In the wake of Trump’s nomination—one which came on a wave of anti-establishmentarian sentiments nationwide—the leadership and traditionally respected members of the GOP have lost as well. Who is to blame for this debacle? I would posit that Paul Ryan and the Republican leadership are as responsible for Donald Trump as anyone else.

Paul Ryan, you are the face of the Grand Old Party. You are the heir of a legacy that stretches from Jack Kemp to Reagan to Eisenhower to Lincoln. If you were to oppose Trump, you would enjoy the enthusiastic support of the Bushes, Romney, and McCain: your party’s three most recent candidates. Even Jeb Bush, who was belittled throughout the campaign for a perceived lack of gumption, has the stones to clap back at Donald—something that you lack. Paul Ryan, you are one of the most powerful men in arguably the most powerful nation in mankind’s history. How is it that you are unable to disavow the monster that is Trump?

Paul Ryan has publicly admitted that Donald Trump is a racist, calling He-Who-Wants-to-Bang-His-Own-Daughter’s comments about Judge Gonzalo Curiel the “textbook definition of racism.” At almost every step of the long, tortuous and torturous road to Trump, Ryan has denounced Trump’s words and actions.

And yet, Paul Ryan is still publicly endorsing Donald Trump for President. Why?

My own theory, one shared by Mr. Douthat, is that Paul Ryan feared that a rejection of Trump in the primary would signal a mass exodus of Trump supporters from the GOP, a schism that would at the very least cripple the party for years. While one might sympathize with his plight, Paul Ryan effectively compromised his morality for a big political gamble: that Donald Trump would lose in the primary. He didn’t.

What Paul Ryan failed to understand about Trump supporters was a strange political phenomena that made headlines when it first came out and something that the Speaker of the House should have been informed of the moment the first reports came out. According to Matthew MacWilliams’s Politico report, a University of Massachusetts-Amherst national study found that the most common ideological value amongst Trump supporters was a shared attraction towards authoritarianism and authoritarian figures. MacWilliams explains that, “Authoritarians obey. They rally to and follow strong leaders.” By refusing to take a strong stance against Trump, Paul Ryan enabled Trump’s destructive rhetoric to take hold. In the absence of leadership from Paul Ryan, the man whom the entire right wing looked towards for just that, Donald Trump was able to step in and become the strongman authoritarians craved.

So after Trump won the primary, what was there left to do? This is the moment when a good leader steps in. This is the moment when a good leader chooses to actually lead, and gamble his or her political career for what he or she truly believes is best for the country. Paul Ryan refused to lead, failing the constituency who had put him in power to do exactly that. Ryan took the easy choice, one where he could hide behind the excuse of the ‘will of the party.’ He endorsed Trump for President.

But in doing so, in supporting a man whom he admits is racist and dangerous, Ryan publicly indicated his approval of what Trump has done and is doing. The Nation’s John Nichols sums it up nicely, “[Ryan and Reince Priebus] have also made it absolutely clear that Trump is acceptable to them as a nominee. As such, they have signaled to Trump backers and to swing voters that the billionaire is a comfortable enough fit for the Republican Party.”

Five-Thirty-Eight recently posted an article entitled Is it Paul Ryan’s Party or Donald Trump’s Party? The fact that such a question even exists signals a major departure from Paul Ryan’s firm grip on the GOP.

Let history note that Paul Ryan, handed a formidable deck of cards, squandered his political power by refusing to lead.

Much in the same way that one might blame a spoiled child’s entitled tantrums on his/her parents’ failure to discipline the child, one might place equal, if not more, blame on Paul Ryan for his failure to discipline the spoiled, tantrum-throwing, tiny-handed orange cookie monster that is The Donald. Although my characterization of Orange Hair in that last sentence might lend me towards accusations of bias and improper journalism, I would posit that there is no way to fairly cover a xenophobic, racist, misogynistic, bigoted, perverted, sexually-predatorial, faithless, maritally uncommitted, incestuous, gluttonous, torture-celebrating, nationalistic, unpatriotic, military-hating, vulgar, braggadocious, hypocritical, heartless, violent, loud-mouthed, impulsive, opportunistic, avaricious, ostentatious, pathologically lying extremist who has hijacked one of America’s two major political parties.

Paul Ryan, seeing all that Trump has done to your country and your party, how can you still endorse him for the Presidency? No matter what Paul Ryan’s intentions were, the fact of the matter remains that the GOP’s foremost champion stood idly by while Trump stole his party from him. Let history note that Paul Ryan, handed a formidable deck of cards, squandered his political power by refusing to lead. Let history note that it was Paul Ryan’s reluctance to be a leader that opened the door for Trump to become the face of the radical right wing.