Speaker of the House Paul Ryan will give a speech today, dispelling rumors that he will run for president, according to aides.
Ryan is scheduled to deliver remarks to the press at 3:15 p.m. in the lobby of the Republican National Committee on Capitol Hill, the Washington Times reported.
With the odds of a contested convention in Cleveland in July more and more likely, Ryan has been mentioned as a potential last-minute consensus nominee for the Republican presidential slot. Aides said the Wisconsin representative will silence such speculation today.
“He’s going to rule himself out and put this to rest once and for all,” an aide told the Washington Examiner. CNN received the exact same quote.
Ryan’s early declaration that he would not seek the position of House speaker during that contentious race last year fed rumors that the Wisconsin Republican could still put his name forward as a consensus nominee if neither frontrunner Donald Trump, nor Ted Cruz, nor John Kasich received the support of the majority of delegates at the convention. Today, he is moving to put those fears to rest.
A key marker on whether or not Ryan will reverse his declaration today may be the mention of the magic words “under any circumstances.” This phrase was lacking in his house speaker protestations, but will likely be heard today.
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