Paul Ryan says he won’t attend RNC if Trump is Republican nominee

Former GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan said Sunday he will skip the Republican National Convention if Donald Trump pulls off a miracle and wins the party’s presidential nomination.

Ryan of Wisconsin made the comment when asked by local ABC 12 whether he would attend the convention, which is scheduled for the summer of 2024 in Milwaukee.

“It depends on who the nominee is,” Ryan, 53, said. “I’ll be here if it’s somebody not named Trump.”

The reporter responded, “You won’t show up if it’s Trump?”

Ryan replied, “No. I’m not interested in participating in that, no.”

The interviewer persisted, “Even in Wisconsin?”

Ryan reiterated, “Even in Wisconsin.”

But Ryan, who presided over the speakership for the first two years of Trump’s term, told the station that he doesn’t foresee there being an issue because it’s unlikely Trump will be on the RNC stage as the party’s candidate that August. 

“I don’t think he’ll be our nominee. The reason I don’t think ​he’ll be our nominee​ i​s because we know we’re ​going to lose with him. He c​ost ​us ​the ​H​ouse ​in ’18. He lost The White House in ​’​20. He cost us the Senate ​in ’20​. He c​ost us​ the Senate again in 2022. And ​he costs us probably a good dozen House seats in 2022​,” Ryan said of the former president. 

​”​This is a lesson we don’t need to repeat again. And I think even diehard Trump supporters know we’re better off with somebody else​,” he said. 

Trump, 76, linking to a report about Ryan’s comments, lashed out at the Republican politician on his Truth Social media platform Sunday.

“Paul Ryan is a loser, Mitt Romney could have won without him,” Trump wrote, referring to the pair’s doomed 2012 presidential ticket featuring Romney at the top and Ryan as his veep.

“I won twice, did much better the second time, and was 233 Wins out of 253 Races in the Midterms. Paul Ryan ​… couldn’t get elected dogcatcher in the Republican Party!​” Trump said.