ELECTION/PAUL RYAN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Former House Speaker Paul Ryan on Monday [3-11-19] warned that President Donald Trump’s reelection prospects could be in danger next year if he relies on his personality, rather than focus on policy to win another four years in the White House. Speaking at a lecture in Vero Beach, Fla., in some of his first public comments since leaving Congress two months ago, Ryan bemoaned the political polarization that was a defining characteristic of his tenure as speaker, blaming the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus for derailing attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and blaming technology for deepening the political divide. Ryan focused heavily on policy in his speech, Treasure Coast Newspapers reported, and urged the president to do the same during his reelection campaign. He told the audience that he believes there are some Democrats who could unseat Trump in 2020 and pushed him to define himself through his policy platform…The former speaker did not address the thinly veiled criticisms Trump has lobbed at him since Ryan left office in January, especially over Ryan’s failure to secure funding for the president’s proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border before Republicans lost the House.”
–Caitlin Oprysko, “Ryan warns Trump could be beat in 2020,” Politico, March 12, 2019 7:14 am