October 11, 2016, 01:10 pm
Carson defends Ryan from Trump's attacks
By Jonathan Easley
Top Donald Trump adviser Ben Carson came to House Speaker Paul Ryan’s defense on Tuesday and criticized the Republican presidential nominee for exacerbating an intraparty feud less than a month before the election.
“Paul Ryan is being very pragmatic,” Carson said in an interview with The Hill. “He recognizes that if Donald Trump loses, Hillary Clinton needs a firewall so she can’t do whatever she wants. He wants to make sure to keep the firewall there, so he’s devoting his energy to doing that.”
Trump laid into the Wisconsin Republican in a series of tweets on Tuesday morning, calling the Speaker “weak and ineffective” and vowing to run the rest of his campaign against GOP leaders and the Republicans who have abandoned him.
Ryan held a call with the GOP conference Monday saying he would no longer defend Trump and that Republicans up for election should do what they need to do to win — even if that means cutting Trump loose.
Trump is furious over the slight, and he and his campaign signaled they would not let the matter go.
Republicans abandoned Trump in droves over the weekend after an explosive video surfaced of the nominee making obscene remarks. Some are panicking that the chaos at the top of the ticket will cost majorities in the Senate and potentially the House.
Carson said that Trump should focus on winning his own race rather than feuding with GOP leaders.
"The way forward is for them to both pursue their respective goals,” Carson said. “Trump should concentrate on the issues and stop allowing himself to be dragged off into the hinterlands. … Let Paul Ryan concentrate on the House. It’s critical; you need that fail-safe mechanism."
“He’ll realize soon enough that he shouldn’t be attacking Ryan and that his energy needs to be on the issues, because that’s how he wins,” Carson continued. “If he would concentrate on those things he would win in a walk. It’s hard for him."
Carson acknowledged that the GOP appears to be in the throes of a divisive civil war and warned that it could doom the party on Election Day.
“Basically what’s happening is our country is a train about to go off a cliff, and there’s a fight going on in one of the cars,” Carson said.
“Traditionally Republicans always find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory,” he said. “This might be the most graphic example of it, although there’s still hope. It’s a matter of whether folks will be willing to look at the big picture and not just at their own feelings.”
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/300410-carson-defends-ryan-from-trumps-attacks
