Former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said on Tuesday that he does not intend to vote for former President Trump in November, indicating that he would instead write in another candidate.
“Character is extremely significant to me,” Ryan, who departed Congress in 2019, told shared with Yahoo Finance at the Milken Global Institute Conference. “And it’s a position that demands the type of character that he simply lacks.”
“However, I strongly disagree with [President Biden] on policy,” he continued. “I voted for a Republican the last time, and I intend to vote for a Republican this time.”
Ryan, who led the Republican House majority during Trump’s initial two years in the White House, has become a vocal critic of the former president. He has argued that Trump is not a “conservative,” but rather an “authoritarian narcissist,” and supported former Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kizinger (R-Ill.) for standing up to the former president.
“From a historical perspective, all of his tendencies fundamentally align with narcissism, which is anything that makes him popular, makes him feel good in any given moment,” Ryan mentioned in an interview late last year.
“He doesn’t think in terms of classical liberal conservative beliefs,” he continued at the time. “He thinks in an authoritarian manner and he has been able to persuade a substantial portion of the Republican base to follow him because he’s the culture warrior.”
The former Speaker has also stated stated that it is “crystal clear” that Biden won the 2020 election, despite the former president and his allies’ frequent assertions to the contrary.
“It was not rigged. It was not stolen,” Ryan remarked in a 2021 interview. “Donald Trump lost the election. Joe Biden won the election. It’s really clear.”
Following a 20-year tenure representing Wisconsin’s 1st District, Ryan departed Congress. He also served as Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-Utah) running mate in the 2012 presidential election.
Romney, who announced in September that he will retire from the Senate at the end of his term, has also recently emerged as a strong critic of the former president.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
