The Slatest

Paul Ryan, Who Supports Donald Trump, Lays Out Vision for Future

Donald Trump supporter, Paul Ryan.

Win McNamee/Getty Images

On Friday, more things happened in the U.S. presidential contest. First, one new accuser came forward to allege that Donald Trump groped her genitals in a nightclub in the 1990s. Then another new accuser came forward to say that Trump “[thrust] his genitals” against her in unwanted advances. Also, on Friday, Donald Trump again insulted the physical appearances of his various accusers, implying that they were not attractive enough for him to sexually assault.

Another thing happened on Friday, too. Paul Ryan, who supports Donald Trump’s bid to become president of the United Sates, gave a policy speech to a group of college Republicans at which he did not mention Trump by name name.

“I know this election has taken some dark—sometimes some very dark—turns, which is exactly why I think it’s important that we take a step back and reflect on what this election is ultimately all about,” Ryan said, alluding perhaps to the candidacy of the man that the Speaker of the House wants in the White House and the various assault allegations against that man.

“Beneath all the ugliness lies a long-running debate between two governing philosophies, one that is in keeping with our nation’s founding principles like freedom, and equality, and another, another that seeks to replace them,” continued Ryan, whose governing philosophy includes the idea that Trump should hold the most powerful position in the government.

“So at this time I would like you to reflect on this choice that we are facing here,” added Ryan, whose choice for president is Donald Trump.

Ryan then made some vague Randian commentary about how progressives were turning the United States into a dystopian nightmare, one that Ryan presumably believes Trump, whom he supports, will be able to reverse.

“In elections, we don’t just decide who our leaders will be: We get to choose which kind of country we will have for years to come,” said Ryan, who has said he will personally be deciding in favor of Donald Trump on Election Day.

“What vision do Hillary Clinton and her party offer the people? They want what America that doesn’t stand out. They want an America that is ordinary. There’s a kind of a gloom and greyness to things. In the America they want, the driving force is the state. It is a place where government is taken away from the people, where we are ruled by our betters, a cold and unfeeling bureaucracy that replaces original thinking,” continued Ryan, one of whose original thoughts is that Trump should have the ability to launch nuclear bombs wherever and whenever he might feel like.

“It is a place where the government twists the law and the constitution itself to suit its purposes. It is a place where liberty is always under assault, where passion, the very stuff of life is extinguished,” said Ryan, who supports a man who has at various times attacked the Sixth Amendment, the First Amendment, and voiced his support for assorted war crimes.

“That is the America Hillary Clinton wants,” continued Ryan, who wants an America run by Donald Trump. “If given control of Washington, if given control of Congress, it is the kind of America she will stop at nothing to have.”

Read more Slate coverage of the 2016 campaign.