GOP nominee must reject bigotry, House Speaker Paul Ryan says
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday anyone who wants to be the Republican presidential nominee must reject any racist group or individual, a tacit swipe at GOP front-runner Donald Trump.
Ryan told reporters that the GOP is the party of President Abraham Lincoln and “this party does not prey on people’s prejudices.”
Ryan was apparently referring to Trump’s appearance Sunday on CNN when he declined to disavow the support of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and other white supremacists.
If a person wants to be the nominee of the Republican party there can be no evasion and no games.
On Tuesday, USA Today reported that a group of about 30 African American students from Valdosta State University in Georgia were kicked out of a Trump rally by law enforcement officials.
Ryan was the GOP vice presidential nominee in 2012.
Many Washington Republicans are increasingly open about their dismay at the prospect of Trump winning the GOP nomination.