The 2016 presidential election wasn’t just a contest between Donald Trump and the Democrats.
It was also between Trump and the Republican establishment, which was led by House Speaker Paul Ryan.
And Paul Ryan may not be happy about whose vision the voters preferred.
When Donald Trump kicked off his campaign, he placed ending illegal immigration, building a wall along our Southern border that would be paid for by Mexico, and ending the disastrous trade deals as the central planks of his platform.
Trump’s populism mobilized working class voters across America as he swept to victory in the Republican primary.
But no one thought he could pull it off in the general election where a supposedly more diverse electorate would sink his chances.
Trump’s appeal ran directly counter to the Republican establishment that was led by Speaker Paul Ryan.
Ryan favors amnesty and open borders.
He backs globalist trade deals that benefit major corporations who ship jobs overseas for access to cheap foreign labor.
Many so-called “experts” believed Trump’s brand was so toxic in a general election that after he went down to an inevitable defeat, Ryan would emerge as the leader of the Republican rebuilding project.
However, after all the votes were counted, Trump not only won a decisive victory over Hillary Clinton, he won more Electoral College votes than any Republican since 1988 — riding on Trump’s coattails allowed the GOP to maintain their House and Senate majorities.
Trump’s populist nationalism carried the day.
And that’s bad news for Ryan, who spent the entire campaign trying to undermine Trump’s chances so the establishment could take back control of the party from the populist conservatives who nominated Trump.
So you saw Ryan trying to make nice with Trump when the President-Elect toured the Capitol.
The pro-open-borders and pro-amnesty Ryan even claimed in an interview with Fox News that securing the border was his number one priority.
.@SpeakerRyan: “Right now we want to secure the border and that is really the first priority.” #SpecialReport pic.twitter.com/uPzwIl46Xf
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 10, 2016
But Trump’s allies haven’t forgotten Ryan’s treachery during the campaign, and are pledging to hold him accountable should he choose not to implement the agenda Trump campaigned on.
The Hill reports:
Populist pro-Donald Trump website Breitbart is not stopping its war on Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) now that Trump is President-elect.
“Ryan will not get amnesty for his actions against the conservative movement and the American people,” a source familiar with Breitbart’s internal deliberations told The Hill on Wednesday.
