Ryan Talks Trump, Afghanistan, Foxconn Deal During Racine Town Hall

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan spoke out on a host of issues during a town hall Monday night in Racine: President Donald Trump’s Afghanistan strategy, the president’s controversial response to a white supremacist march in Virginia earlier this month and the state of Wisconsin’s deal with Foxconn, among other topics.

Ryan, R-Wisconsin, took questions from voters in his congressional district in southern Wisconsin during the nationally televised event on CNN that immediately followed Trump’s address on Afghanistan. The speaker had scheduled the event before the president announced his speech to start at the same time.

Ryan spoke about the president’s comments at the outset of the town hall and said he is pleased with Trump’s strategy for Afghanistan that he outlined. He said previous strategies in Afghanistan were “convoluted” and what Trump outlined was a “more comprehensive strategy.”

Ryan said he’s pleased Trump is moving away from having a timetable for withdrawing from Afghanistan and wants to prevent creating a safe haven for terrorists.

“We can’t afford to allow that to happen again,” he said.

Ryan also said he will not support a resolution to censure Trump over his comments following the white supremacist march in Virginia last week. Ryan was asked whether he would back the resolution.

The question came from Rabbi Dena Feingold, the sister of former Democratic U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, who grew up in Janesville, the same city Ryan was raised and lives.

Ryan said censuring Trump would be “so counterproductive.”

“If we descend this issue into some partisan hack-fest, into some bickering against each other and demean it down into some political food fight, what good does that do to unify the country?” Ryan said.

He said he thinks Trump “messed up” at a press conference following the march when he said there were “fine people” on both sides of the Virginia march, but believes Trump has clarified his remarks.

“You’re not a good person if you’re there, it’s so very clear,” Ryan said.

Ryan On Foxconn

Ryan said global electronics giant Foxconn’s plan to construct a factory in his district that could employ thousands is a “game changer” and an “exceptional deal.”

Ryan was asked whether the deal was worth it given Wisconsin is poised to give the Taiwanese company $3 billion in taxpayer incentives to build the plant. Ryan helped negotiate the deal to bring Foxconn to the state to construct LCD display screens for televisions and other uses. Wisconsin won out over several other states.

He said the factory will be transformational for the state because “it brings an entire sector to Wisconsin.” And he said the tax incentives are all contingent on Foxconn meeting investment and hiring targets.

CNN extended invitations to people from Ryan’s district and selected which questions will be asked. That has led to criticism from Democrats who say Ryan has been hiding from Wisconsin voters since he hasn’t held a town hall open to everyone since October 2015.

Rallying Against Ryan

About 150 protestors held a rally outside the venue of Ryan’s town hall.

Gina Walkington of the group Forward Kenosha criticized Ryan’s backing of health care legislation that would cut off federal funds for Planned Parenthood. Walkington said when she was 20 years old, Planned Parenthood helped her obtain good medical care.

“A provider of Planned Parenthood found pre-cancerous cells in my cervix, and if not caught in time, I could have died or might not be a mother,” Walkington said.

The health care measure passed by the House has stalled in the Senate. Ryan, a champion of the health care reform, argues there are alternative health care agencies to Planned Parenthood that don’t offer the abortion services Planned Parenthood provides.

The demonstrators outside Ryan’s town hall also complained about proposed federal budget cuts to education and urged Ryan to be more critical of Trump.

Editor’s Note: This story was last updated at 9:16 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22, with additional reporting from WPR.