House Speaker Paul Ryan called on Donald Trump Tuesday to name a conservative as his vice presidential nominee.
“I would like a conservative,” Ryan said at a CNN town hall hosted by Jake Tapper, adding that Trump was “new” to Republican politics and had been on the different sides of many political issues.
Ryan said that he would like to see Trump, who is expected to announce the name of his pick as soon as this week, choose someone who could assure the party that he will follow a consistently conservative path.
The speaker has one of the toughest jobs in politics right now: safeguarding the future of the Republican Party while simultaneously uniting the party around Donald Trump, its controversial presumptive nominee. He is gearing up for the perilous political mission of guiding the GOP through next week’s Republican National Convention.
The speaker has frequently been drawn into the center of controversy during the presidential campaign, sometimes scolding Trump or simply keeping his distance while also encouraging the party to support Trump to avoid a Hillary Clinton win in November.
Ryan was, for instance, forced to repudiate Trump’s attacks on an American-born judge of Mexican ancestry who is presiding over a civil suit against the billionaire. Ryan, who endorsed Trump in June, said those comments met the “textbook” definition of racism.
But Ryan has also argued that, for all his faults, Trump would be a better President than Clinton as he tries to fight off Democrats hoping to seize back the Senate and winnow away his House majority.
As well as the presidential election, Ryan will expect to face questions from CNN moderator Jake Tapper and the town hall audience on attempts by House Republicans to keep alive Clinton’s email controversy after she learned last week from FBI Director James Comey that she would not face indictment. His attempt to deprive her of her security briefings conducted for presidential nominees over the issue has already failed. But House Republicans have now asked the Department of Justice to probe whether Clinton lied to Congress.
And Ryan is also currently embroiled in a standoff in the House over the gun reform debate, following a sit-in by Democrats earlier this month led by civil rights icon John Lewis designed to force the speaker to allow a series of votes on firearms legislation.
The town hall meeting will be broadcast on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español. A livestream will also be available online via CNNgo.