Over the last week, President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan have appeared to come together and unite behind the Republican health care bill. However, that friendship might be short-lived after a leaked audio clip was uncovered.

Ryan on Trump

During the 2016 presidential election, the candidacy of Donald Trump was mostly viewed as a side-show act and a joke. Despite this, Trump gained steam and was able to weather the storm and become the party's nominee. Most establishment Republicans opposed the former host of "The Apprentice," which included Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.

Even days before Election Day, Ryan couldn't fully support Trump as the president, especially after the October surprise was revealed in the form of the now infamous Access Hollywood tape. Since then, Ryan and Trump have tried to put their difference aside for the sake of the party. As reported by The Hill on March 14, a new audio clip might damage the working relationship the two have been working on.

(Ryan's comments start at 1:00 in the above video.)

Originally reported by the right-wing website Breitbart News, an audio clip from a October 10, 2016 conference call has been leaked where Paul Ryan says he will never defend Donald Trump regardless of the outcome of the election. "I am not going to defend Donald Trump," Ryan said, before adding, "not now, not in the future." "You guys know I have real concerns with our nominee," Ryan said to the House Republicans on the call, before encouraging them to "do what you think is best and do what you feel you need to do," in regards to coming out against or in favor of the then GOP nominee.

GOP implosion

Considering the date of the call, Paul Ryan's comments appear to be made as the aforementioned Access Hollywood tape was dominating the news cycle, which prompted a dozen women to come forward in the span of a month to accuse Donald Trump of sexual assault.

The original source of the audio leak, Breitbart News, has a well-documented history in opposition to Ryan, as current Chief Strategist Steve Bannon is the former head of the conservative news outlet. As of press time, neither Ryan, Trump, nor Breitbart News has issued any further comments.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED