Paul Ryan lost his way before finding the exit
In January 2017, during a CNN town hall, Ryan was confronted by a woman whose parents brought her to the United States without papers at age 11, and who had been in the country for 21 years since then and now had a daughter of her own. The woman asked him: "Do you think that I should be deported?"
To which Ryan responded: "I can see that you love your daughter and you're a nice person who has a great future ahead of you, and I hope your future's here." He went on to call for "a humane solution to this very legitimate, sincere problem." And when asked about Trump's promise to create a "deportation force," the speaker said that sort of thing is "not happening."
In June 2016, Ryan told reporters that Trump's claim that U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel could not be objective in deciding a case involving Trump University because the U.S.-born jurist is "Mexican" fit "the textbook definition of a racist comment."
Yet, once Trump was elected, Ryan fell in line behind Trump in order to push a GOP agenda that included $1.4 trillion in tax cuts.
Such a tragic final act for one of the few Republicans left who believed in a big tent. Now all we're left with are those who feel more comfortable in a circus tent.
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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.
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