Ryan's dilemma: House speaker faces backlash from own party over Trump

House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, seems caught between a rock and hard place  these days.

Ryan said this week that he would not help campaign for presidential candidate Donald Trump. This came after a videotape emerged in which Trump made vulgar comments regarding women he claimed were dazzled by his fame and fortune.

Trump has since apologized for the comments, which were made more than a decade ago.

Ryan, who has had dustups with Trump in the past, now faces a backlash from Republicans in the House who say they will not support him as speaker if he does not support the party's nominee.

Ryan has panicked, say some GOP members, at least one of whom called his behavior "cowardly."

Ryan was the party's vice presidential nominee four years ago. But he will have trouble holding onto his prominent position even if Republicans win back control of the House. His stance has buoyed some GOP members who fear their re-election chances are being hurt by Trump's behavior, but it has angered many others who are more conservative and are backing the billionaire businessman to the hilt.

Should Trump win and the conservative wing of the Republican Party prevail, Ryan could see any aspirations to higher office disappear.

Published in Editorials on October 13, 2016 10:06 AM