Speaker Ryan to Call for Party Unity at Republican Convention
House Speaker Paul Ryan is set to address a divided Republican Party Tuesday night in Cleveland with a message of party unity, after a tumultuous 24 hours at the Republican National Convention.
Before Melania Trump raised questions with a primetime address that appeared to borrow lines from a 2008 speech by First Lady Michelle Obama, Republicans' first day in Cleveland was dominated by a public feud between Ohio Gov. John Kasich and the Trump campaign and a messy anti-Trump delegate fight on the floor of the convention over party rules.
Ryan, who did not gavel the convention in Monday, spent the day meeting with supporters and various state delegations.
On Tuesday, he'll call for Republicans to practice "aspirational and unifying politics" and make the election a "contest of ideas," against Hillary Clinton and Democrats, according to an aide.
The message of unity from Ryan comes after months of work to keep Republicans together behind a controversial nominee he's repeatedly criticized.
The Wisconsin Republican -- who breaks with Trump on nearly every significant policy proposal the presumptive GOP presidential nominee has put forward -- hasn't been shy about acknowledging his differences with Trump, in both style and substance.
The House speaker has pushed Republicans to focus on ideas and an aspirational message heading into the pivotal election, and introduced a detailed six-part House GOP policy agenda to take to voters in November.
He's also repeatedly denounced Trump's incendiary rhetoric and campaign controversies while affirming his support for the presumptive nominee.
Ryan's delicate balancing act was on full display in June, when - not even a week after quietly endorsing Trump in his hometown paper following a month of indecision -- he forcefully rebuked Trump's attacks against a federal judge at a DC rehab center, where he was rolling out House Republicans' antipoverty agenda.
"We're different people. And we have frank exchanges, frank discussions. He does listen," Ryan said of his relationship with Trump at a Wall Street Journal event Monday. "I won't get into private conversations but there are things that I just take issue with."
