House Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted Thursday that he's voting for Donald Trump for president of the United States in November.
CNBC broke the news based on a tweet that Ryan sent out Thursday afternoon with no fanfare or advance notice. Ryan's spokesman quickly confirmed that the tweet signified a formal endorsement of Trump. It comes after weeks of stalling by Ryan.
The tweet linked to an article on the website for
The Janesville Gazette (his hometown paper) in which Ryan argued that Trump would "help turn the House GOP's agenda into laws."
Ryan says in the article that the "confident America" policy agenda he has been developing since becoming speaker of the House last fall is shared in Trump's vision of America.
"Through these conversations, I feel confident he (Trump) would help us turn the ideas in this agenda into laws to help improve people's lives. That's why I'll be voting for him this fall," Ryan wrote.
Ryan also concedes that he and Trump do not agree on everything and that when he sees the need, Ryan will continue to speak his mind.
"But the reality is, on the issues that make up our agenda, we have more common ground than disagreement," Ryan wrote.
"A Clinton White House would mean four more years of liberal cronyism and a government more out for itself than the people it serves. Quite simply, she represents all that our agenda aims to fix," Ryan added.
Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck told the Associated Press that the statement marks a formal endorsement.
The statement came just as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began a much-ballyhooed foreign policy address in which she slammed Trump.
Ryan has seemingly been isolated among congressional leaders in recent weeks in withholding support for Trump. He was the only one of the House GOP leadership team to not have publicly backed Trump. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also quickly endorsed Trump.
In a much-discussed CNN interview shortly after Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee, Ryan said he was "just not ready" to endorse him.
And Ryan has slammed Trump on several occasions over his language, behavior on the campaign trail and policy positions. He condemned Trump’s proposed Muslim ban, delay in disavowing a white supremacist’s support and campaign rallies erupting in violence.
He also still differs with Trump on a wide range of policy areas, including trade pacts, Social Security, Planned Parenthood, easing restrictions with Cuba and immigration,
The Hill pointed out.