Twitter Reacts To Paul Ryan's Wisconsin Town Hall Comments

At his first town hall meeting in his Wisconsin congressional district in two years, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan spoke on a range of topics on Monday including President Donald Trump's response to Charlottesville violence, reports said.

However, Twitter users were not impressed with Ryan's answers. While one user called him spineless, another user said he was "kissing Trump's ass." The micro-blogging site was flooded with similar responses after Ryan, during the town hall organized by CNN, said he opposed censure of Trump over his comments on the recent white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia. However, the house speaker admitted the president "messed up" by saying "both sides" were responsible for the violence.

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin 2nd District) tweeted the whole town hall event was rehearsed beforehand.

David Yankovich, the candidate for Wisconsin's 1st Congressional district, tweeted: "The only #RyanTownHall that matters is when he answers actual questions from the man standing next to me."

During the town hall, Ryan also defended the $3 billion investment by Taiwan-based firm Foxconn Technology Group in Wisconsin, according to WJLA.com, an ABC-affiliate. The Republican was asked whether the deal was worth as the state would give $3 billion to the company in taxpayer incentives to build the plant.

He defended the move by saying the investment would bring an entire sector to the state. He also said if the state legislature approves the $3 billion tax incentive package by the end of September, it would result in potential jobs and $10 billion in economic investment by the company, the Washington Post reported. Along with Trump, Ryan has referred to the deal as "transformational."

Ryan has been instrumental in negotiating the deal of bringing Foxconn — best known in the U.S. as the manufacturer of Apple's iPhone and iPod — to Wisconsin to construct LCD display screens for televisions, among other things. Along with Trump, Ryan has referred to the deal as "transformational."

But the remarks received criticism on Twitter as the users said the move would not be beneficial for the state's economy.

The town hall began at 9.30 p.m. local time, 30 minutes after its scheduled timing to accommodate Trump's nationwide address on Afghanistan. The president said American troops would continue fighting in the war-torn country as opposed to his earlier indications of withdrawing the U.S. troops.

During the town hall, Ryan praised the president's strategy. "I'm pleased with the decision... We cannot allow another safe haven for terrorists to materialize again," CNN reported.

Apart from Afghanistan, the Wisconsin Republican was also questioned on North Korea. He was specifically asked whether Trump's stance on the hermit kingdom has been too aggressive, to which Ryan said that North Korea was a "serious threat." "I think it is important that (Kim Jong Un) realizes we aren't going to take things lying down," Ryan said.