When Paul Ryan endorsed Donald Trump, I cut him some slack by virtue of his position as House Speaker.
But Trump’s defamatory comments towards federal judge Gonzalo Curiel because of Mexican heritage has put Ryan in a tough spot. Yesterday, Ryan said Trump’s barrage against Curiel were “the textbook definition of a racist comment,” but vows to support him in November nonetheless.
That is not the case with Illinois Republican Senator Mark Kirk who withdrew his endorsement of Trump. “I find Donald Trump’s belief that an American-born judge of Mexican descent is incapable of fairly presiding over his case is not only dead wrong, it is un-American,” said Kirk.
Kirk is in a tough re-election fight against Illinois Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth. In a traditionally blue state, Trump is an albatross around Kirk’s neck. Politically, it was a matter of life and death.
But would it take a life or death matter for Ryan to rescind his endorsement of Trump? In other words, would Trump have to go out in the middle of Fifth Avenue and start shooting people?
