Speaker Ryan thinks President Trump's Defense of White Supremacists was 'Morally Ambiguous'
Speaker Ryan: I think he made comments that were much more morally ambiguous, much more confusing…
Jake Tapper: …It wasn't morally ambiguous. It was morally wrong.
Speaker Ryan, there is absolutely no moral ambiguity about President Trump's comments, which ignore the abhorrent evil of white supremacism and shelter the forces of bigotry and discrimination. You need to stop enabling the president and call his behavior out for what it is: repulsive and unacceptable.
New York Magazine: Paul Ryan Says Trump ‘Messed Up' on Charlottesville, But Refuses to Censure Him
When asked why he hadn't condemned Trump's remarks as strongly as some fellow Republicans, Ryan said he thinks Trump "messed up" in his combative press conference on Tuesday, but praised him for only bungling two out of five opportunities to forcefully denounce hate groups.
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Censuring Trump doesn't need to be a "partisan" fight, but Ryan seems to assume that when forced to choose between defending Trump and making a strong symbolic stand against bigotry, Republican lawmakers will go with Trump.
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It's lucky for Ryan that Trump got it right on his fifth try. Ryan is extremely passionate about coming together to denounce white supremacy, unless it involves doing anything that could further strain his relationship with President Trump.
ThinkProgress: Paul Ryan statement on Charlottesville completely misrepresents grieving mom
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said in a statement Monday that he was "struck by the tone Heather Heyer's parents took at her memorial service," saying their call for "healing and forgiveness" was a powerful example … while Ryan's sentiment about healing and forgiveness is touching, the statement completely misrepresents what Heyer's mother, Susan Bro, said last week at Heyer's memorial service.
In her eulogy for her daughter, Bro said explicitly that it was "not all about forgiveness."
"We're not going to sit around and shake hands and go ‘Kumbaya,' and I'm sorry, it's not all about forgiveness," Bro said. "I know that's not a popular trend. But the truth is, we are going to have our differences. We are going to be angry with each other. But let's channel that anger not into hate, not into violence, not into fear, but let's channel that difference, that anger into righteous action."
Ryan, in his statement, also tries to insulate his comments about Charlottesville and Heyer's death from his legislative agenda.