House Speaker Paul Ryan must disavow Donald Trump because "he must choose his party or his principles," The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said in an editorial on Wednesday.
"Ryan still believes he can have it both ways with Trump — that he can support Trump and still manage the billionaire’s frequent eruptions of ignorance," the newspaper said. "He cannot. His principles and Donald Trump's candidacy are simply not compatible."
The speaker, 46, was first elected to Congress in 1998 from Janesville, Wis. He was Mitt Romney's running mate in 2012.
Ryan is seeking re-election in November. Trump on Tuesday refused to endorse Ryan in his upcoming primary race.
The speaker reluctantly endorsed Trump in June, quietly announcing his support on Twitter.
The Journal Sentinel also reported Wednesday that Ryan, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and Sen. Ron Johnson will not attend Trump's rally in Madison on Friday.
In its editorial, Wisconsin's largest newspaper said that Trump's attacks on the parents of a Muslim Army captain who died in Iraq in 2004 were "indeed a 'national embarrassment.'"
"Khizr Khan had every right" to attack the nominee at the Democratic National Committee last week, the editorial said. "And Khizr Khan was right about Trump."
The board noted that Ryan condemned Trump's comments while praising the Khan family — but that's not enough.
"What will it take, Speaker Ryan?" the editorial asked. "If not small-minded contempt for a Gold Star family, then what?
"How far must Trump go? Stand on principle. Disavow Donald Trump."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.