Is Paul Ryan Running For President In 2016? House Speaker To Attend Secret Donor Meeting

House Speaker Paul Ryan denies he would accept the Republican presidential nomination, but there’s new buzz about he idea. The rumor arguably got wings when the Drudge Report asked, “Paul Ryan launches first campaign ad?” after the congressman’s office put out a 43-second video lamenting “politics these days.”

Now, Ryan, R-Wis., is slated to attend a secret donor meeting next week in New York, the Observer wrote in an exclusive report Monday. Todd Ricketts, the co-owner of the Chicago Cubs and outspoken critic of Donald Trump, reportedly arranged the meeting at the Mandarin Hotel. In addition to Ricketts, there will be “20 or so” Republican donors in attendance.

The Observer, a New York tabloid owned by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, says it stumbled on this news when one of the donors, who remained anonymous, told them about Ryan’s apparent involvement. The source was “disgusted that he [Ryan] is saying one thing publicly but secretly trying to garner support with all of these NeverTrump people talking about all their strategies to subvert the people who are voting for Trump and [Sen. Ted] Cruz.”

The speaker's office has not commented on the Observer story.

In truth, Ryan, who was the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2012, has publicly denounced rumors that he was running for president. But the “Politics These Days” video seems to say something different. "We all want to be prosperous. We all want to be healthy. We want everybody to succeed. We want people to reach their potential in their lives,” he says in the clip. “Imagine, for a moment, if politics was actually about uniting Americans, not dividing us. That's the kind of America that House Republicans are working towards."

Despite the video seeming like a presidential campaign ad, Ryan might be telling the truth about not wanting to be president in 2016, the Week magazine noted. The speaker, it said, will run for president in 2020.

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