When Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday that "the shackles have been taken off of me," what he was really referring to was his recent breakup with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). During an interview Tuesday night on The O'Reilly Factor, the GOP presidential nominee made it very clear that he thinks he's "better off" without Ryan's support. "The shackles are some of the establishment people that are weak and ineffective people within the Republican Party, senators, and others, and Paul Ryan, led to a certain extent by Paul Ryan, being nasty to the nominee," Trump said. This was Trump's first cable news interview since the Friday release of a now infamous tape in which Trump bragged about groping women, and since Ryan announced Monday he would no longer defend Trump.
Trump noted that while he's gained "millions and millions of supporters" and "set records in the primaries," Ryan has advocated for "open borders and amnesty" and "very, very bad budgets." "Frankly, the only one that Obama negotiates well with is Paul Ryan with the budgets because that's the only negotiation he can win," Trump said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
4 ways to give back this holiday seasonThe Explainer If your budget is feeling squeezed, remember that money is not the only way you can be generous around the holidays
-
4 tips for hosting an ecofriendly ThanksgivingThe Week Recommends Coming together for the holidays typically produces a ton of waste, but with proper preparation, you can have an environmentally friendly gathering.
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appealSpeed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
-
Global court issues arrest warrant for NetanyahuSpeed Read The International Criminal Court issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who stand accused of war crimes
-
Gaetz bows out, Trump pivots to Pam BondiSpeed Read Gaetz withdrew from attorney generation consideration, making way for longtime Trump loyalist Pam Bondi
-
GOP's Mace seeks federal anti-trans bathroom banSpeed Read Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina has introduced legislation to ban transgender people from using federal facilities
-
Ukraine fires ATACMS, Russia ups hybrid warSpeed Read Ukraine shot U.S.-provided long-range missiles and Russia threatened retaliation
-
New York DA floats 4-year Trump sentencing freezeSpeed Read President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing is on hold, and his lawyers are pushing to dismiss the case while he's in office
-
Wyoming judge strikes down abortion, pill bansSpeed Read The judge said the laws — one of which was a first-in-the-nation prohibition on the use of medication to end pregnancy — violated the state's constitution
-
US sanctions Israeli West Bank settler groupSpeed Read The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on Amana, Israel's largest settlement development organization
-
Gaetz ethics report in limbo as sex allegations emergeSpeed Read A lawyer representing two women alleges that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, and one witnessed him having sex with minor
