‘Anybody but Trump Right Now for Me,’ Says Rep. Ryan on 2024 Republican Convention

President Donald Trump greets Speaker of the House Paul Ryan during the National Republican Congressional Committee March Dinner at the National Building Museum in Washington on March 20, 2018. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has indicated that he might skip the party’s national convention this year if former President Donald Trump is chosen as a nominee, blaming election losses on the former president—a claim that Trump rebutted in a social media post.

When asked about where he will be during the July 2024 Republican National Convention scheduled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Ryan replied that “it depends on who the nominee is. I’ll be here if it’s somebody not named Trump,” said in an interview given to WISN. As to endorsing Trump in the primary, Ryan said: “I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it. Right now, I’m just for a non-Trump candidate because I think we’ll win if we nominate somebody else … anybody but Trump right now for me.”

Ryan does not think Trump will be on stage at the Republican convention as a nominee. “I do not think he’ll be our nominee. The reason I don’t think he will be our nominee is because we know we will lose with him,” he said.

Ryan went on to insist that GOP losses in the 2018 elections, the 2020 presidential election, and the 2020 and 2022 Senate elections were all due to Trump.

“This is a lesson we do not need to repeat again. And I think even die-hard Trump supporters know we are better off with somebody else,” Ryan said while adding that Republicans will lose the state of Wisconsin if Trump is the GOP nominee.

Trump lashed out at Ryan, calling him a “loser” in a Feb. 27 Truth Social post. “Paul Ryan is a loser, Mitt Romney could have won without him. I won twice, did much better the second time, and was 233 Wins out of 253 Races in the Midterms,” Trump said.

“Paul Ryan is destroying Fox, and couldn’t get elected dogcatcher in the Republican Party!” Ryan is currently a member of the Fox Corporation Board of Directors.

The ‘RINO’ Issue

Calling himself a “traditional, liberal, classic conservative,” Ryan stated that the definition of “RINO” (Republican in name only), referring to party members who are not very loyal to the party ideology, has undergone a change.

“Back in my day, a RINO was somebody who was more moderate versus conservative. Today, a RINO is how much fealty do you pledge to Donald Trump or not. I am very low on that. I did not pledge fealty to a person, I pledge to principles,” Ryan said.

Back in March 2021, Trump stated that “RINOs” will harm the GOP and called for drying up funding for such party members.

“No more money for RINOS,” Trump said in a statement in March that year. “They do nothing but hurt the Republican Party and our great voting base—they will never lead us to Greatness. Send your donation to Save America PAC at DonaldJTrump.com. We will bring it all back stronger than ever before!”

2024 Republican Primary

The Republican Party intends to hold the first GOP presidential debate for 2024 in Milwaukee in August. The specifics of the first debate have not yet been defined. Trump and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley have announced their bids for GOP nomination.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are also speculated to throw their hats in the presidential race.

Currently, Trump has a significant lead over other party members, according to multiple polls. Rasmussen Reports’ recent survey ranked Trump at the number one spot in terms of GOP voter candidate preferences, garnering 52 percent support, according to a Feb. 24 tweet.

The second-ranked potential candidate, DeSantis, could only garner 24 percent of votes, which is less than half what Trump received. Haley got the support of 15 percent of voters.