House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Republican nominee Donald Trump are putting their differences aside and will appear together for the first time in the campaign on Oct. 8.
Ryan and Trump will make a joint appearance at an annual fall festival in Elkhorn’s Walworth County Fairgrounds just weeks before Election Day.
The House Speaker will appear with other Wisconsin GOP leaders including Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Ron Johnson, along with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus.
The event’s special guests include Trump and Wisconsin Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. However, the announcement does not clarify if Ryan is campaigning for the Republican nominee.
Ryan and Trump have had a bumpy relationship since the real estate mogul announced he was running for president.
Ryan, along with some other top Republicans, had originally refused to endorse Trump. The Speaker in May withheld his support for Trump saying he just wasn’t “ready to do that at this point.”
“I’m not there yet,” he said at the time. In early June, Ryan came around, saying he would vote for the Republican nominee.
Trump then paid him in an apparent tit-for-tat in early August when he said “I’m just not quite there yet” when asked whether he would endorse Ryan for reelection in Wisconsin.
Days later Trump announced his support for the Wisconsin Republican.
Ryan and Trump have disagreed on a number of issues, especially on some of the nominee’s controversial comments. The Speaker criticized Trump over his statements on Mexican-American federal judge Gonzalo Curiel, and also on the candidate’s feud with a Gold Star family who appeared at the Democratic National Convention. Ryan has also called on Trump to release his tax returns.
The Associated Press asked Ryan why he had not appeared with Trump during the campaign and the Speaker said, “I’ve been busy doing my job.”
“I want to win up and down the ballot, but my primary responsibility is re-election of House Republicans,” said Ryan on Oct. 6.
The event is the 1st Congressional District Republican Party of Wisconsin’s only fundraiser of the year, with donor seats ranging from $125 to $1,000.
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