Paul Ryan was the last high-profile Republican not to comment about Donald Trump sacking FBI Director James Comey.
He finally revealed his thoughts on the matter.
And they got everyone’s attention.
Ryan backed Trump on the move.
Some Republicans looking to play to the so-called “mainstream” media expressed reservations in exchange for favorable headlines.
But Ryan said Comey had “lost confidence.”
Politico reports:
Speaker Paul Ryan defended President Donald Trump’s dismissal of FBI Director James Comey during an interview on Wednesday, arguing that Comey had been “compromised” and “lost the confidence” of the American people.
Breaking a more than 24-hour silence following Comey’s controversial firing, Ryan said on Fox News that Comey had “become an issue himself.” The Wisconsin Republican — once one of Trump’s biggest congressional critics — also argued that Trump had acted “entirely within a president’s role and authority” and said there was no need for a special prosecutor or special committee to probe Russian election interference and possible collusion with Trump’s presidential campaign.
“The truth is that James Comey who is a worthwhile, dedicated public servant, had basically lost the confidence of a lot of Republicans, a lot of Democrats, based on his conduct, his actions and some of the comments he had made. And most importantly, he had lost the confidence of the president,” Ryan told Fox News’ Bret Baier.
Ryan also said “the president was looking at a situation where you had senior Justice Department officials losing confidence.”
“Trump does not want to see the FBI in disarray,” he continued. “He wants to see the FBI running and moving well.”
Some Republicans, such as John McCain, James Lankford, Ben Sasse and Barbara Comstock, ran to left-wing media outlets and told them exactly what they wanted to hear — namely that Trump’s firing of Comey troubled them.
McCain, Comstock and Sasse have long reputations of being opponents of Donald Trump.
The media lapped up their statements and used them as evidence Trump created a “constitutional crisis.”
There is no crisis.
The FBI Director serves at the pleasure of the President.
Skittish Republicans who live and die by the so-called “mainstream” media cycle panicked at the first hyperventilating tweet.
But, by and large, Republicans closed ranks around Trump.
They defended his legitimate authority to fire the FBI Director.
And as Ryan noted, Comey made himself an easy target.