Here & Now

Speaker Of The House Paul Ryan Talks Presidential Politics

Frederica Freyberg: Mr. Speaker, thank you very much for joining us.

Paul Ryan: Frederica, it’s great be back with you. Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg: You bet. So, what’s your take on what is happening in your party, specifically the ascendancy of Donald Trump?

Paul Ryan: Well, I think what’s happening is you’re seeing a very, very creative, and very anxious party. I think people are really taken aback at where the country has gone in the last eight years. They’re worried about jobs, they’re worried about economic anxiety, national security. Donald Trump’s a famous guy who’s speaking to people’s anxiety. He’s giving voice to a lot of folks’ concerns. It’s a very competitive primary. I mean Ted Cruz is barn-storming states, so is John Kasich. As you probably well know, as chairman of the convention, I’m very neutral in this. So, I play sort of the neutral honest broker since I’m chairman of the convention. But I think what’s happening in our party is our party is our party wants to make sure that we get the country on the right track, and that they’re very worried about the direction America’s headed.

Frederica Freyberg: What do you say to voters, who apparently have tapped in to anger over establishment politics, expressed in support for candidates like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders?

Paul Ryan: Yeah, I mean, the word establishment is a word you haven’t heard until about a year or two ago. So, it’s a new term, but I think if we give voice to the anxiety and anger, and channel it into solutions, then I think we’re being productive and doing our job. And so, what I think matters most is that we don’t simply repeat the anger, but that we try and channel it to solutions. And that is exactly what I’m working on doing as Speaker of the House. We have what we call our Agenda Project, where we have Task Forces in Congress working on assembling an agenda to address the big problems confronting our country: economic growth, poverty, wages, health care reform, how do you prevent entitlement programs from going bankrupt, and how do you prevent a debt crisis, what we need to do to improve our national security, and make sure our military can deliver on a safe national security strategy, how do you restore the separation of powers in government by consent by making sure that the legislative branch of the government is really the branch of government writing the laws, and not unelected bureaucracies. These are the things that we think are front and center important issues. It’s the source of the concern that people are showing us, telling us about, and that is why we want to offer solutions So, what we need to do is say, “Here are our principles. We know that these are problem. We understand the frustration. Here’s our solution. Here’s how we apply our principles to the problems of the day to offer solutions to the country.” And then, if we do our job, we will give people a very clear and compelling choice in 2016 so that the men and women of this country, the citizens, to make a decision at the ballot box what direction they want to take. That’s what we think we owe our fellow citizens, and that’s what we’re working at doing.

Frederica Freyberg: I want to ask you about the so-called “Cheesehead Revolution,” involving yourself, RNC Chair Reince Priebus, and Governor Scott Walker. Now, this revolution was poised to set the GOP course for this presidential election. Then came Donald Trump. Can the Cheeseheads affect a course change now, and if so, how?

Paul Ryan: Well, (laughing) I think people give us too much credit. We are basically… Our ascension, so to speak, has coincided– Reince did a phenomenal job building the Republican Party in Wisconsin. He’s taken those skills to the national party. I’m in a job I wasn’t necessarily planning on being in. I’m happy to be there now. And Scott, obviously, has been a very successful two-term governor. And so, I don’t think that we see ourselves as controlling or directing the party, so to speak. That is what the organic grassroots party does. And that’s what those of us who are leaders, in our various capacities, do. So I don’t really see that we see ourselves as in control of this. We see ourselves as committed conservatives who want to take our principles upon the problems and offer solutions to get things done. What Reince, and Scott, and I see ourselves being is how can we be the most effective at our jobs and actually getting things done on behalf of our constituents, and improving the quality of life, making a difference. That’s really what we see ourselves as being. Not necessarily as sort of directing or controlling the direction of our political party.

Frederica Freyberg: Now I don’t have to tell you that you’ve been forwarded as of being an alternative to Donald Trump in a brokered convention. What is your response to that? Paul Ryan: Not gonna happen. Won’t be the case. I think it should be– We should choose from those who are running. I’m not running for president. I chose consciously not to run for president. And as the chairman of the convention, I should not be considered, as far as I’m concerned. Frederica Freyberg: Now, it might be

Paul Ryan: So that means it won’t be me. I’ll be really clear about that.

Frederica Freyberg: It might be said, though, that you acquiesce before being elected speaker. That’s not what’s happening here?

Paul Ryan: That’s different, that’s different. I’m already in Congress. That’s just moving from being a chairman of the Ways and Means Committee to the Speaker of the House, while being a member of Congress. This is an entirely different situation. Entirely– The parallel, I just don’t think, works. It’s a non-sequitur, as far as I’m concerned. And so, I’m chairman of the convention and, therefore, I will not be considered as a nominee.

Frederica Freyberg: Back to Donald Trump. He says that your ticket lost the election in 2012 over your proposals for entitlement reform and here, in your hometown, this week, he suggested that as House Speaker, Paul Ryan, you’re proposing what he called a doomed political agenda on entitlement reform. What your response to that?

Paul Ryan: Well, I’d say the results speak for themselves. Obviously, I have been reelected handily after proposing– By the way, the entitlement reforms I’ve proposed save these programs from bankruptcy. They make sure that we can continue to keep the promised benefits to people in or near retirement, and reform them for younger generations so that they exist for them when they retire, and they prevent these programs from going bankrupt. I been able to communicate that, I think, fairly effectively, and my employers, the people in the 1st Congressional District, sent me back to Congress. Mitt Romney and I won the senior vote in 2012 by 12 percentage points. That’s the best the Republican ticket has done among senior citizens in America since 1984 when Ronald Reagan won in a landslide.

Frederica Freyberg: House Speaker, Paul Ryan, we leave it there. Thanks very much for joining us.

Paul Ryan: You bet, Frederica. Have a good one. Nice to be back with you.

Frederica Freyberg: Thanks.