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Paul Ryan's Kind-of, Sort-of Call for Ohio to Support Donald Trump

Television crews followed Paul Ryan to hear his speech to Ohio's delegation, which was policy heavy and Trump light.
M.L. SCHULTZE
/
WKSU
Television crews followed Paul Ryan to hear his speech to Ohio's delegation, which was policy heavy and Trump light.
Television crews followed Paul Ryan to hear his speech to Ohio's delegation, which was policy heavy and Trump light.
Credit M.L. SCHULTZE / WKSU
/
WKSU
Television crews followed Paul Ryan to hear his speech to Ohio's delegation, which was policy heavy and Trump light.

House Speaker Paul Ryan’s speech to the Ohio delegation this morning included a muted call for Ohio and the rest of the country to unify behind Donald Trump.

Ryan dwelled more on tax policy and football than on the presidential campaign. But in the end – literally the last sentence of his speech – he brought it all together and uttered Donald Trump’s name for the first time.

“We’re all on the same team. We all want the same thing. Voting for anybody but Donald Trump means you’re voting for Hillary Clinton. It’s as easy as that.” 

Ryan says the only choice is Trump for those who don't want Hillary Clinton elected.
Credit M.L. SCHULTZE / WKSU
/
WKSU
Ryan says the only choice is Trump for those who don't want Hillary Clinton elected.

Ohio’s delegation has been among the most reserved about Trump as the party’s standard-bearer. Diane Mesnick doesn’t understand all the hesitation. She’s an honorary delegate, here from Mahoning County and says she’s tickled with Trump.

“I just feel like the average politician basically says what they want their constituents to hear, and we get sucker punched into voting for them. And when they get there, it’s all about what the lobbyists want, what the big money wants. It’s all about money."

She believes Trump’s wealth would exempt him from that.

Ohio’s delegation has talked a lot about unity – but it’s focused on the re-election of Ohio Sen. Rob Portman.

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M.L. Schultze
M.L. Schultze came to WKSU as news director in July 2007 after 25 years at The Repository in Canton, where she was managing editor for nearly a decade. She’s now the digital editor and an award-winning reporter and analyst who has appeared on NPR, Here and Now and the TakeAway, as well as being a regular panelist on Ideas, the WVIZ public television's reporter roundtable.