Press: Forget about GOP unity in 2016

Last Thursday’s showdown between Donald Trump and Paul Ryan received more media coverage than any summit since Ronald Reagan met with Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. Yet seldom has so much been made about so little.

Can we be honest? The much-ballyhooed meeting between Trump, the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, and Ryan, the House Speaker, was unnecessary in the beginning and meaningless in the end. It was pure posturing, leading nowhere. Since when has the man who soldiered through the Republican primaries to win his party’s nod had to come crawling on his knees to beg the endorsement of the House leader? 

{mosads}Of course, the coffee wasn’t even cold before both parties dutifully gushed out how positive the meeting was. “Great day in D.C. with Speaker Ryan and Republican leadership. Things working out really well!” tweeted Trump. “I was very encouraged by what I heard from Donald Trump today,” Ryan told reporters. He then quickly added he was still not ready to endorse Trump, because this is only the beginning of “a process” that will take a long time.

In other words, Donald Trump might just as well have stayed in Trump Tower. The truth is, he doesn’t need Paul Ryan’s endorsement. In fact, Trump has been so successful precisely because he ran against Ryan and the Washington establishment. The biggest mistake he could make now would be to give the impression he’s groveling for the support of the Speaker and other Washington pooh-bahs, who have so alienated the Republican Party base.

Politically, Ryan has nothing to offer Trump except headaches, like trying to get the real estate mogul to embrace Ryan’s plan to cut Medicare and Social Security benefits. It’s too late for that kind of horse trading. Trump’s all but secured the Republican Party nomination. For better or worse, it’s his party now. There’s no need for any dragged-out “process.” Trump should tell Ryan: “Make up your mind. Either endorse me or not, I don’t care. You need me more than I need you.”

There’s one other reason Trump should not waste any more time playing Ryan’s game. In the end, in terms of party unity, it won’t make any difference. 

So what if, after 25 more meetings, Ryan finally finds it in his heart to support Trump’s White House bid? There are still many top Republicans who’ve said they’ll never endorse him: Jeb Bush; former Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush; Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Jeff Flake of Arizona, and Dean Heller of Nevada; Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner; and 2012 nominee Mitt Romney, who’s now foolishly trying to recruit somebody to run as an independent against Trump.

The Republican establishment had its chance to stop Trump early in the primaries, and it failed to do so. Now it’s stuck with him and a party that’s hopelessly divided. And that spells bad news. According to Vox, in 10 elections going back to 1900 in which one party has been much more divided than the other, the more deeply divided party lost all 10. 

2020 anyone?

Press is host of “The Bill Press Show” on Free Speech TV and author of “Buyer’s Remorse: How Obama Let Progressives Down.”