Paul Ryan won't criticize Trump unless he feels 'conservatism is being disfigured'

Paul Ryan.
(Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

On Thursday, only half of the 2012 Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan ticket lashed out at Donald Trump, with the House speaker refusing to echo the harsh words of his former running mate.

While Romney was calling Trump "a phony" and "a fraud" making "worthless" promises, Ryan was telling reporters during his weekly news conference that the only way he'll criticize Trump is if he sees "ideas and comments that mislead the people as to who we are as Republicans" and feels "conservatism is being disfigured." Paul said in his role as House speaker and chairman of the nomination convention, it's not really his place to speak out against Trump, but to "help put substance in this campaign" and "add a keel and a rudder to this ship of the Republican Party and give it direction."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.