Hey, Remember That Time When Paul Ryan Claimed Black Men Are Lazy And Don’t Work?

Presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump’s recent non-condemnation of the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke and white supremacy was still the main topic of conversation on cable news and in Washington on Tuesday. While people were lining up to vote in Democratic and Republican primaries in a bunch of states, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) decided to weigh in on the controversy.

Speaking to reporters on Super Tuesday, Ryan denounced Trump for not speaking out forcefully against white supremacist groups in his Sunday interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. He also said he hoped this would be the last time he’d have to comment on this or any other aspect of the primary race.

“This is the kind of moment where we should be having a serious debate about the policies needed to restore the American idea. Instead, the conversation over the last few days has been over white supremacy groups.

I try to stay out of the ups and downs of the primary, but I’ve also said when I see something that runs counter to who we are as a party and a country, I will speak up. If a person wants to be the nominee of the party, there can be no evasion and no games. They must reject any group or cause that is built on bigotry.

This party does not prey on people’s prejudices. We appeal to their highest ideals. This is the party of Lincoln. We believe all people are created equal in the eyes of God and our government. This is fundamental, and if someone wants to be our nominee, they have to understand this.

I hope this is the last time I have to speak out on this race.”

Those are some stern words from Ryan. You can tell he is Very Serious about even the appearance of race-baiting or dog whistling in the party. He wants the GOP to have nothing to do with racist ideology, white nationalism or ugly xenophobia.

Seeing what Ryan had to say on Tuesday, you just know that he’d be extra pissed if a fellow Republican made the following comments about inner-city black men.

”We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work, and so there is a real culture problem here that has to be dealt with…you need to get involved, you need to get involved yourself, whether through a good mentor program or some religious charity, whatever it is to make a difference. And that’s how we resuscitate our culture.”

I can’t wait for Ryan to rebuke this kind of blatant shout out to white supremacists made by…Rep. Paul Ryan. Yep, in March 2014, shortly after Ryan had released his much-maligned War on Poverty report, the Congressman appeared on William Bennett’s radio program to wax poetic about the black community’s culture problem and just how gotdamn lazy black men are.

He was also pushing the notion that poor black people don’t need government social programs to help them get back on their feet or avoid abject poverty. In fact, in his opinion, all of the Great Society programs just cause more and more poverty. Instead, the best way to fight poverty is to have rich white people volunteer their time and money to teaching lazy black folks the value of a hard day’s work. Or something like that.

Anyway, I’m sure he’s evolved since then. (No, not really.) Or, at the very least, he won’t endorse, support or vote for Trump if he is the GOP nominee. (Yeah, that ain’t happening either.)