We expected the Republican Party to tear itself apart after Hillary Clinton is elected. But now it looks like the circular firing squad has already assembled more than two weeks before Election Day. Donald Trump’s surrogates at Breitbart have turned their guns on House Speaker Paul Ryan.
On Saturday morning, Breitbart–or rather, Trumpbart–blasted out a remarkably loony article accusing Ryan of mounting a secret “months-long campaign” to get Hillary elected president. It appears to be an article-length version of internal memos from Breitbart chairman Stephen Bannon declaring Ryan “the enemy.” Bannon, for those who don’t know, is also CEO of the Trump campaign.
So they think a guy with a lifetime American Conservative Union rating of 93 and who is an Ayn Rand admirer wants to put Hillary in the White House? Yeah, okay. But then again, we’re talking about people who think the GOP needs more Steve Kings in Congress to win over the American people.
To hear Trumpbart talk, Ryan is only keeping Trump at arm’s length because, like Hillary, he represents “foreign nationals and foreign interests.” Once again, Trumpbart blows a racist dog whistle into a megaphone.
And by blowing off Trump’s loony claims of a rigged election, Ryan is continuing a long crusade aimed at “undermining his own party’s nominee for president.” Um, it couldn’t be because they have no basis in fact? Nah.
Apparently Bannon and friends missed that Ryan and his friends are desperately trying to save their House majority. With polls suggesting that the GOP will not even begin to retain its massive majority, Ryan’s lieutenants recently urged their backbenchers to open their wallets and help their more vulnerable colleagues. Not exactly the act of someone who wants to help Hillary win.
But then again, we shouldn’t be all that surprised that Trumpbart and Bannon have already put Ryan in their crosshairs. After all, most of their readers think any Republican who dares speak ill of the Donald is a traitor.
(featured image courtesy Ryan’s Facebook)
