Live from Over Grand Junction: Greg Sargent is flummoxed as he watches Paul Ryan complain that Barack Obama degrades the presidency by standing up for Truth, Justice, and the American Way:
: Paul Ryan Attacks Barack Obama for Agreeing with Paul Ryan: "Don’t you go agreeing with me, Mr. President. That’s not helpful at all!...
Here’s what Ryan said:
Ryan... agreed... that Trump’s proposal to... ban Muslim immigrants... was... bad idea: 'Putting a religious test on anybody coming to this country is wrong.... We ought to have a security test, not a religious test. That’s who we are.
'But... it... degrades the presidency to... talk about primary politics in the other party.… Speaking up for our values and speaking up for our beliefs is one thing. But... wading into the primary politics of the other party is just not really what presidents ought to do....
Obama['s]... arguing that... xenophobia and demagoguery is antithetical to American values... was... a reference to Donald Trump... [and] Ted Cruz.... Paul Ryan himself agrees... rebuk[ed] Trumpism not long ago... denounc[ed]... any religious test for entry... assert[ed] that many Muslim Americans believe and are fighting for, freedom and democracy.... Ryan agrees that Trump’s demagoguery is bad for America... knows full well that the more attention Trumpism gets, the worse it is for the GOP....
The basic dilemma GOP leaders face is they need to contain Trumpism, while preventing it from drawing too much attention and thus staining the party, and without alienating those GOP voters who are responding positively to it...
