Ryan has repeatedly said he won't be the surprise Republican nominee
House Speaker Paul Ryan released a video Friday promoting his unity strategy for the House GOP. But the clip, which shows Ryan giving a speech to a rapt audience, plays like a campaign ad.
The video, titled “Politics These Days,” is part of Ryan’s agenda for House Republicans, which he is calling “#ConfidentAmerica,” according to the Speaker’s website.
“What really bothers me the most about politics these days is this notion of identity politics,” Ryan says in the clip. “That we’re going to win an election by dividing people, rather than inspiring people on our common humanity and our common ideals and our common culture on the things that should unify us.”
Ryan has repeatedly dismissed the idea that he will enter the Republican presidential race. He flat out denied Monday that he would be the “fresh face” that the GOP was looking for to take the party’s nomination at a potentially contested convention in July.
“I’m not that person. I’d like to think my face is somewhat fresh, but I’m not for this conversation,” Ryan said. “I think you need to run for President if you’re going to be President, and I’m not running for President. So period, end of story.”
There are, however, countless theories about what could happen should a contested convention take place and this quasi-campaign video from Ryan will only add fuel to the fire. On Twitter, many users speculated that the Speaker may be planning a shadow run at the convention, despite his previous denials.