House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office is downplaying a tweet from President Trump directing his followers to watch a Fox News program Saturday that called for the speaker’s ouster.
Ryan and Trump spoke on Saturday and Sunday about moving forward with their agenda and their “relationship is stronger than ever,” said Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong.
Trump was also clear that a tweet he sent out Saturday night “had nothing to do with the speaker,” Strong added.
Trump tweeted Saturday that people should watch Fox News host Judge Jeannine Perillo on Saturday night.
Watch @JudgeJeanine on @FoxNews tonight at 9:00 P.M.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2017
Perillo opened her program by saying that Ryan should resign as speaker because of his role in the failure of the American Health Care Act, a bill that gutted Obamacare but was pulled on Friday due to insufficient support from far-right conservatives and moderates.
White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus also said on Fox News Sunday that the tweet was merely coincidental, and that Trump was just helping to promote a friend of his.
The Trump tweet came after published reports from anonymous White House sources that laid blame for the healthcare bill’s defeat on Ryan.
Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Ocare!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 26, 2017
Trump, however, on Sunday trained his fire on the House Freedom Caucus and influential outside groups Club for Growth and Heritage Action, saying they are to blame for the bill’s demise.
