Paul Ryan, former House Speaker, spoke at UWM Thursday night, cautioning the GOP (Grand Old Party) against going with President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential primary.
Populism, Trump, and the 2024 Republican Presidential Primary were big topics at the talk, moderated by political commentator and UWM alumnus Charlie Sykes. The speech was part of the UWM Distinguished Lecture series.
“I want to win, we’re going to lose with [Trump],” said Ryan. “Who we have to convince is the people who would vote for him again.”
Later in the talk, Ryan called for a “Reagan 2.0” figure to counter Trump. Ryan described someone who could ‘[pitch] themselves as an aspirational, unifying figure.”
Ryan cautioned against the “wave of populism” that has “taken over the party.” He described the phenomenon as “the Be-ers [overtaking] the doers.”
“The advent of decentralized media, hits and clicks, performers realized they didn’t need to spend that time [scaling the meritocracy] if they were good with their thumbs,” said Ryan.
Ryan’s tenure as representative and speaker was largely defined by fiscal policy, centered around shrinking the budget deficit, privatizing social services such as Medicare and Medicaid and repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Much of the talk revolved around returning the party to a basis in fiscal conservatism, an issue that he sees President Joe Biden and former President Trump as being irresponsible on.
Ryan went on to describe how RINO (Republican in Name Only) used to mean a “more moderate liberal republican versus more conservative on a philosophical scale,”
“Now it means fealty to Trump,” Ryan said.
The event was open to UWM students and members of the general public, although the tickets for the latter were sold out on the night of the talk. One such audience member, Bill Inis, had gotten his tickets three weeks in advance.
“Paul Ryan has been quiet for a very long time,” said Inis. “I want to hear him in an unvarnished format.”
“[The GOP] doesn’t care about debt anymore, it isn’t part of the platform,” said Inis.
Angel Amezquita, a UWM sophomore, was interested in whether Ryan might consider running for office again.
Ryan, when prodded by Sykes on the question, did not rule it out, but also indicated it would likely not be anytime soon.
“The stuff I say about Trump makes me unviable right now,” said Ryan.