Today, Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who for the moment has the conch in the Trump administration’s transition efforts, is on Capitol Hill for meetings, including with Speaker Paul Ryan. One of the very first announcements of the Pence-led transition was the appointment of white nationalist Steve Bannon to a senior White House role, a move which would put someone with a lengthy history of racist, misogynist, anti-Semitic, and hateful language and views just steps from the Oval Office.
Throughout the campaign, Paul Ryan has gone out of his way to point out that he and Pence are “good friends” from their time together in the House, underscoring that Ryan once again has the influence and ability as a leader of the Republican Party to denounce Bannon’s appointment and force Trump and Pence to withdraw it. But given that Ryan has repeatedly failed this week to so much as criticize Bannon – even after he was reminded of all the times Bannon’s Breitbart insulted Ryan personally – it’s clear that he has no intention of standing up for the American people during his meeting with Pence.
“Speaker Ryan has become such an obedient foot soldier for the Trump administration that he won’t even use his close relationship with the head of the transition to push for the removal of a dangerous white nationalist from a senior White House appointment,” said Christie Stephenson of the DCCC. “It didn’t even take a week for Ryan and House Republicans to make clear that they will bury their principles and refuse to hold Donald Trump accountable.”