Paul Ryan: Trump made "textbook definition of a racist comment"

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Summary

House Speaker Paul Ryan delivered a harsh rebuke of the recent comments made by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump about an Indiana-born judge with Mexican heritage who is presiding over a lawsuit about Trump University. Ryan said he "disavows" Trump's comments and that they are "the textbook definition of a racist comment." Ryan, who recently endorsed Trump, said he still believes Trump is the better choice over presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Transcript

PAUL RYAN: I disavow those comments. I regret those comments that he made. I don't think claiming a person can't do their job because of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment. I think that should absolutely be disavowed. It is absolutely unacceptable. But do I believe that Hillary Clinton is the answer? No, I do not. Do I believe that Hillary Clinton is gonna be the answer to solving these problems? I do not. I believe that we have more common ground on the policy issues of the day, and we have more likelihood of getting our policies enacted with him than with we do with her. But I do absolutely disavow those comments. I think they're wrong. I don't think they're right-headed and the thinking behind it is something I don't even personally relate to. But at the end of the day this is about ideas, this is about moving our agenda forward.