Paul Ryan struggles to convince many he supports Trump at RNC

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has had a very rocky relationship with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and he addressed that schism head on in a speech to the Republican National Convention on Tuesday evening. “But you’ll find me right there on the rostrum with Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump”, Ryan said. At first, he said he would stay home, seen by many as a way for Johnson to distance himself from Donald Trump.

However, the Wisconsin representative spent most of his 12 minutes on stage trying to convince Republicans at Quicken Loans Arena (and across the country) to unify by Trump and vice presidential nominee Mike Pence. “Let’s show America our best and nothing less”. And you know what? It was brief and overshadowed by Chris Christie’s prosecutorial hammering of Hillary Clinton.

“Under the most liberal president we’ve had so far, poverty in America is worse, especially for our fellow citizens who were promised better and would need it most”, said Ryan, the permanent chairman of the 2016 RNC. “Our candidates will be giving their all, will be giving their utmost, and every one of us has got to go and do the same”.

“You and I call those signs of life, signs of a party that’s not just going through the motions, not just mouthing new words for the same old stuff”, he said.

The real question with Ryan, though, is what would he be like during a Republican presidency?

Under Democratic former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, those plans won’t be realized, Ryan said.

The ballroom full of Texans erupted in laughter, boos, and shouts of, “No!” “They are offering a third Obama term brought to you by another Clinton”, Ryan said. Ryan later addressed the convention, urging Republicans to unite for the general election.

On the convention floor, Dan Senor – a veteran Republican strategist and former top aide to Ryan – hovered at the edge of where the NY delegation.

He condemned Trump for proposing to ban Muslims from the USA, being slow to disavow support from a white supremacist, failing to quell violence at campaign rallies and attacking a federal judge for his Hispanic ethnicity. “The GOP is about to nominate someone with the wrong temperament, the wrong character, and the wrong worldview to be president”.

“It’s surreal”, Senor said. “It’s pathetic to watch so many leaders of the Republican Party pretend to be excited about it”.