Donald Trump demanded on Thursday that Rupert Murdoch boot former House Speaker Paul Ryan from the Fox Corp. board. The reason? Ryan committed the apparently fireable offense of telling people he will not be voting for Trump come November.
“Rupert Murdoch should fire pathetic RINO Paul Ryan from the Board of Fox,” Trump scream-wrote on Truth Social. “Ryan is a loser, always has been, and always will be. He was the WEAKEST & MOST INCOMPETENT Speaker of the House in its History. Fox will sink to the absolute bottom of the pack if Paul Ryan has anything to do with it!”
Trump’s commentary about Ryan came two days after the former GOP leader spoke about the ex-president at the Milken Institute Global Conference, saying: “Character is too important to me. And it’s a job that requires the kind of character that he just doesn’t have.” Ryan added that, “having said that, I really disagree with [Joe Biden] on policy. I wrote in a Republican the last time, I’m gonna write in a Republican this time.” (Note: This is not the way to prevent Trump from becoming president.)
While serving as House Speaker, Ryan defended all kinds of character-lacking behavior from Trump in exchange for tax cuts. When Trump demanded loyalty from the head of the FBI—whom he later fired—Ryan defended him by saying, “He’s just new to this.” When Trump gave the Charlottesville neo-Nazis a free pass, Ryan told people “he’s learning.” Since leaving office, however, the former Wisconsin representative has become a major critic of Trump, labeling him an “authoritarian narcissist” and calling BS on the stolen-election claims. “It was not rigged. It was not stolen,” Ryan said in 2021. “Donald Trump lost the election. Joe Biden won the election. It’s really clear.”