OPINION:
It’s possible the Republican Party isn’t as fractured as the media headlines want you to believe, that House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and GOP presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump really do want the same thing — unity — and are willing to work with each other in order to achieve it.
On Friday, The Associated Press declared: “Fractured GOP show no immediate signs of mending itself.” The New York Times wrote Sunday: “GOP unravels as party faces Trump takeover,” and The Washington Post’s headline read: “Right faces a ’crisis’ in GOP.”
Today, this narrative seems a bit shaky — or downright wrong.
In an interview with Fox New’s Bill O’Reilly on Tuesday, Mr. Trump complemented Mr. Ryan, and said he’d rather unite the party than go it alone.
“I would like to see unity in the party,” Mr. Trump told Mr. O’Reilly. “I believe we’ll have great unity in the party. … [Mr. Ryan’s] a good man, wants what’s good for the party and I think we’ll have positive results. … He loves this party, he loves this country and he wants to see something good happen, and I think we’re going to do better if we’re unified.”
He also extended an olive branch in the interview, saying he wanted Mr. Ryan to remain the chairman of the GOP convention despite the lack of endorsement so far from the speaker. Mr. Ryan said earlier this week he’d be willing to step down if Mr. Trump wanted him to.
For his part, Mr. Ryan also seems willing to play ball.
In interviews Tuesday with the Wall Street Journal and Wisconsin radio station WBEL, Mr. Ryan said he was approaching his meeting Thursday with Mr. Trump as the start of a long conversation, and that he wanted to really get to know the man, find common ground and establish ongoing communication.
Mr. Ryan said Wednesday that he and likely GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump are “from different wings of the party,” and Thursday’s meeting between the two is about trying to find a way to unify their visions.
“We’ve got a process we’re just getting started,” Mr. Ryan told reporters. “To pretend we’re unified without actually unified, then we go into the fall at half-strength. I want to be a part of that unifying process so we’re at full strength this fall.”
That sure sounds hopeful to me, not “irreparable” at all. I’m glad temperatures have cooled. Perhaps movement conservatives and more moderate Republicans can unite under the big tent after all.
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