U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan of Janesville has delivered his most emphatic denial yet that he has any interest in running for president this year.
Ryan called a Washington news conference on Tuesday where he told reporters that he does not want, nor will he accept, the GOP nomination.
“So let me speak directly to the delegates on this,” Ryan said. “If no candidate has a majority on the first ballot, I believe that you should only choose from a person who has actually participated in the primary. Count me out.”
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“I should not be considered. Period. End of story,” he added.
Ryan said he wanted delegates to the Republican National Convention to create a rule that says someone can only be nominated for president if they’ve actually run for the job.
Despite repeated assertions that he doesn’t want to be his party’s presidential nominee this year, Ryan’s name keeps coming up as a possible candidate due to the very real possibility that neither Donald Trump nor Texas Sen. Ted Cruz will win enough delegates to secure the nomination ahead of this summer’s convention.
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