(FreedomBeacon.com)- On Thursday, former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box and lamented the polarization in America, which he blamed on the media.
In response to a question from the CNBC host on why Congress can’t enact “common-sense solutions” to reduce gun violence in the country, Ryan said it wasn’t a new problem. He said what is new is that polarization is pervasive in America in this digital era. It comes to Congress, too. He claimed there is an entertainment wing of the Republican and Democrat Parties in the House, such as Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO).
Ryan continued to snipe, saying the old meritocracy where it takes 10, 20 years to become a good policymaker is gone. One can skip that step and focus on becoming a great performer with a strong internet presence. People can forget about policymaking and focus on building a brand for themselves. As a result, you now have entertainers in Congress, Ryan pouted.
The former House Speaker’s involvement as a member of the board of directors of the Fox Corporation, which owns Fox News, has been repeatedly criticized by detractors. Ryan joined the board in 2019.
Media reports show that in the aftermath of the Buffalo shooting incident, Ana Navarro of The View, for example, singled out Ryan and FOX News by name, and critics falsely linked the shooting to Fox News rhetoric. On The View, Navarro shrieked that advertisers on FOX are contributing to the problem. She then said her ‘friend’ Paul Ryan was part of the problem because he is a Republican contributing to people like Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY).
Paul Ryan concluded the interview by saying he knew he was “capping himself politically” when he decided to become Speaker, but that was fine with him because he knew the job required consensus dealmaking.
Some would argue that Paul Ryan’s “consensus dealmaking” was just a flowery term for “Uni-party.”
