House Speaker Paul Ryan was questioned about President Donald Trump, during his Monday night CNN town hall. The event was carried live from Racine on CNN, and moderated by the network’s Jake Tapper.
Ryan, who took questions from constituents in his 1st Congressional District, was asked about President Trump’s now infamous comments assigning “both sides” blame for the white nationalist violence against Charlottesville. “I do believe that he messed up, in his comments on Tuesday. It sounded like a moral equivocation or at the very least moral ambiguity, when we need extreme moral clarity,” Ryan said. “That was wrong. That’s why I think it was very, very important that he has since then cleared that up.”
Ryan did manage to talk a bit about the House Republican agenda, including his key issue of tax reform, and simplifying the income tax. “Simplify the code so much that you can fill out your taxes on a post card, Ryan said to applause. “It’s not what I say it’s what I do, and that’s why we’re focused so much on getting this agenda through. There’s a lot of distractions out there. Ryan also called on Republicans in the U.S. Senate to get back to work on a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, and to pass bills that have already cleared the House.
Ryan also talked up Foxconn. “Scott Walker calls it ‘Wisconvalley.’ I say we will be the industrial park for Silicon Valley. What I mean when I say that is, it is really in our interest to get ahead of the curve on tomorrow’s high skill, high tech manufacturing jobs.”
Asked about the exchange of bellicose statements between the president and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, Ryan said the president has gotten his message through. And he said he worries more about North Korea selling a nuclear weapon to a terrorist.–