In a recent video by online newscaster The Young Turks, speaking with regard to the Breitbart leak of audio of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan lambasting President Donald Trump, host and co-founder Cenk Uygur observed, with regard to its timing, that "whoever released it... just wanted to shiv Paul Ryan in the biggest way, when he is most vulnerable." Mr. Uygur said that he has never seen such an "over-the-top political attack... within the same party, in my lifetime."
The audio recording features Speaker Ryan on a conference call, speaking with Republicans in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign.
In the call, Ryan states that he isn't going to "defend Donald Trump; not now, not in the future." He spoke about "dis-inviting" Trump from an annual event. The House speaker encouraged the GOP members on the call to "do what's best for you," with regard to the 2016 election, and noted that he would be focusing his efforts on ensuring that the Republicans won a majority in Congress.
Uygur suggests President Trump may be behind Paul Ryan audiotape leak
Mr. Uygur questioned Breitbart coverage describing Paul Ryan's criticism of Trump during the campaign as becoming a "focal point" in negotiations surrounding the American Health Care Act, also known as TrumpCare. The host disagreed that Ryan's disloyalty has become a focal point, and contended that Breitbart were the ones who "brought it up." He noted that White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon was the former chair at the alt-right publication, and pointed to Bannon as a potential source of direction behind the leak of the Paul Ryan audio.
The TYT founder also pointed to an anonymous quote in the Breitbart article that he suspects may have come from President Trump himself, which described the Ryan health care bill as "a mess," in seeming Trump fashion. David Sirota, with TYT, held up Donald Trump's history of going "off the record" with reporters and assuming other identities.
Uygur stated that Trump has acted as his "own unnamed source." He also questioned the White House's motivation behind publicly attacking the House speaker.
Cenk Uygur explained that the unclear motivation is evidenced by the fact that the seeming initiative has been "poorly thought out," which has led him to suspect that President Trump is behind the leak.
Stating that it's "such a mess," he asked how the current situation could possibly be helping the GOP, noting that Trump has publicly supported Ryan's bill, and effectively thrown himself "under a bus" with his criticism of the speaker. The 46-year-old TYT host held up the situation as a symptom of Donald Trump's "incompetence."
Breitbart reporting compared to 'Soviet press release'
The host compared the Breitbart reporting on the Paul Ryan audiotape to a "Soviet press release." John Iadarola, with TYT, took issue that the article was published as news, and not an editorial, saying he had difficulty reading the piece because it was "spinning so fast." Considering all the is involved, David Sirota questioned Trump's motivation.
Cenk Uygur offered his view that "Trump doesn't know what he thinks," and that the U.S. public underestimates "how stupid he is." The TYT founder suggested that President Trump "never had a plan," when it came to replacing the Affordable Care Act and held that this is evident when reading the Republican position put forward in the Breitbart reporting. Uygur called Donald Trump an "impetuous child."
