Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos…Donald Trump celebrated Cinco de Mayo by tweeting “I love Hispanics!” alongside a photo of him eating a taco bowl in Trump Tower. Now, we bet Hillary Clinton is really kicking herself for having that cobb salad for lunch.
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‘16 from 30,000
Well, this is getting interesting. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday that he is “not ready” to endorse Donald Trump, arguing that the presumptive Republican nominee must first do more to unify the party. Ryan said he “hopes” to eventually back Trump but suggested that he will first have to answer “questions” about his conservative credentials. Trump shot back in a response that he’s “not ready to support Speaker Ryan’s agenda.” “Perhaps in the future we can work together and come to an agreement about what is best for the American people,” Trump wrote.
There’s a lot going on here, and it’s a very important moment in this race.. First, consider what it would mean on the other side of the aisle - if Nancy Pelosi, for example, said she couldn’t support Hillary Clinton. Wow Ryan clearly has the interests of his House colleagues in mind, knowing that some of them may be faced with risking electoral demise if they embrace their own frontrunner. Ryan’s move gives them some cover. And Ryan is trying to get some negotiating power here, something that even Trump can appreciate. By holding out on his endorsement, Ryan can try to extract at least some policy promises from the GOP frontrunner. And if he stays mum indefinitely? He can preserve his own brand and position himself as the 2020 GOP candidate to pick up the pieces if Trump goes down in flames.
POPPING ON NBC POLITICS
- Paul Ryan says he is "not ready" to endorse presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
- Donald Trump celebrated Cinco de Mayo by tweeting out a picture of him enjoying a taco bowl at Trump Tower.
- Trump has already signaled he may abandon his positions on two major policy issues: a minimum wage increase and tax cuts for the rich, MSNBC’s Benjy Sarlin reports.
- The Bushes are staying out of 2016.
- We won’t see a contested convention, but there could still be plenty to battle over at the convention this summer, NBC’s Ari Melber writes.
- NBC’s Lester Holt went one-one-one with Trump during Nightly News last night.
FOR THE RECORD…
“I'm just a guy giving you my piece of mind.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan during a CNN interview during which he said he is not yet ready to back Trump.
TOMORROW’S SKED
Hillary Clinton is in California, while Donald Trump holds events in Nebraska and Oregon.
