As the New York Times puts it, this is a “hammer blow” to Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy :
“House Speaker Paul D. Ryan dealt a hammer blow to Donald J. Trump’s presidential candidacy Monday, dashing any remaining semblance of party unity and inviting fierce backlash from his own caucus by announcing that he would no longer defend Mr. Trump’s candidacy.”
(...)
Effectively conceding defeat for his party in the presidential race, Mr. Ryan said his most urgent task was ensuring that Hillary Clinton did not enter the White House with Democratic control of the House and Senate”.
With his decision to bypass the fiery sewage treatment plant explosion that is the Trump candidacy, Paul Ryan is obviously trying to salvage what’s left of the GOP as well as demonstrate — with mind to his long term goal of winning the presidency — that he’s a tough-minded but principled pragmatist.
Ryan has certainly come a long way from his days pushing a social security privatization scheme hatched under the murderous Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. It’s undeniable — in contrast to Trump, Ryan does look positively presidential. One day, with Koch largesse, he may even get there. Let’s hope not. But for now, the enemy of our fiery national sewage disaster is our provisional friend.