U.S. Congress(WASHINGTON) — In his first public appearance since all but splitting with Donald Trump and promising to focus his energies on down-ballot Republicans, House Speaker Paul Ryan Thursday touted the House GOP agenda and declined to weigh in on the maelstrom of accusations against the embattled presidential nominee.
“Not much going on these days,” Ryan joked in his remarks to business leaders in Brookfield, Wisconsin, just days after Trump lambasted him repeatedly.
Among other things, Ryan assured the audience that Republicans are running on a conservative policy agenda with alternatives to Obamacare.
Ryan was met with applause when he took the stage, but did not take questions as he was scheduled to do.
The Wisconsin Republican, who did not mention Trump once in his 20-minute speech, has kept a low public profile while addressing concerns among Republicans about his new position on Trump after the Washington Post’s report on a damning 2005 video on which Trump boasted of groping women without their consent.
“Forget about the buzz of the day and what Twitter storm is going on in the last 20 minutes, I assume,” Ryan said.
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