Thursday's meeting between Donald Trump and Paul Ryan wasn't just a positive step between the two men, but a sign that the party is coming together and uniting. And the sooner that happens, "the quicker we pivot to the general election and defeating Hillary Clinton," Republican National Committee chief strategist and communications director
Sean Spicer said Friday.
"Speaker Ryan is somebody who cares to his core about the Republican Party," Spicer said. "That's not just talk with him . . . he really wants solutions that will take American families and businesses and individuals and make them better, so he wanted to talk to Donald Trump man to man for a period of time beyond a quick, you know, five-minute phone call and get to know him."
And such talks are crucial to any relationship, and for developing a level of trust that's needed to move forward, Spicer said.
Meanwhile, Trump is starting to make a shift from some of his earlier statements, including walking back on an earlier call to ban Muslims from entering the United States, and Spicer said that the presumptive GOP nominee is a "guy who speaks from the heart."
"He knows what he wants to say, and right now he's under a microscope and every word he uses or doesn't use, people are dissecting saying this is a shift, this is that," Spicer said. 'Look, he understands we've shifted into a general election audience, and what previously had just been the Republican primary base was a specific group, and now we've got to reach out, be more welcoming, talk to a more diverse group of people."
Clinton has been a politician for decades, Spicer said, who will "say whatever it takes and the shifts because she has a set of rules for herself and a set for everybody else. There's a reason not just Republicans but independents and Democrats don't trust Hillary Clinton. They believe she's not someone that shares their values, it's because Hillary Clinton spent 20 years being a chameleon."
However, Trump is new to the political world and is not like Clinton, who has been "manipulative and changing since day one," Spicer said.
"This isn't a politician gone from election to election trying to figure what to say to a different election," said Spicer. "He speaks from the heart and talks about what he believes. There's a big difference. You can tell what they mean by how they say it. Hillary Clinton has never meant anything at her core. Says whatever has to get said for the room she's in at the time and will shift depending what the next poll says."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.