By: AIF Staff
This week, American Idea Foundation President Paul Ryan delivered the keynote address at the University of Oklahoma’s Presidential Speakers Series Spring 2024 event. Talking with over 700 Oklahoma residents and supporters of the University, former Speaker Ryan discussed the challenges facing younger Americans, how they can rise to meet these challenges, and how we can preserve America’s timeless principles for generations to come.
Excerpts from press coverage of Speaker Ryan’s time in Norman, Oklahoma follow.
Norman Transcript: Ryan laments current political landscape, asks for more civility
Former Speaker of the House and 2012 Vice President Nominee Paul Ryan told Norman residents that the U.S. needs more civility in politics as the keynote speaker for the University of Oklahoma’s Presidential Speakers Series.
Ryan told The Transcript that Oklahoma holds a special place in his heart since he married his wife, Janna, who is from Madill.
“I come to Oklahoma a lot because my wife is from Madill and their family ranch is there. I come to Oklahoma every year to hunt and fish in Madill, and I’ve been going to OU games for the last 20 years,” Ryan said….
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He said his biggest concern for young people is that they are witnessing an unprecedented tone as far as political dialogue.
“I think it’s really important that young people, particularly college students, get a sense that politics and political discussion is not just about anger and personality destruction,” Ryan said. “There are bigger issues to talk about, and there are civil discussions to be had….
“I think younger Americans get fed this content 24/7 via social media algorithms that often play on the emotions of anger and fear, and they push people further into illogical corners that dumbs down policy and ratchets up partisanship,” Ryan said.
Journal Record: Ryan: Future depends on Congress
If you’re looking for good news or encouragement, don’t go to Paul Ryan, the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and former running mate of presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
While affable and charismatic on the outside, the Republican is a realist and a deficit hawk on the inside. He paints a dire picture of America’s future, and he gives it to you right between the eyes.
The future of Social Security and Medicare, the national debt and the crisis on the border, Ryan has been in the trenches over all those issues. And even though he left Congress in 2015, he says the problems and the dysfunction are the same as they were the day he stepped down. The only thing that’s changed is that the cans have been kicked further down the road.
Ryan was in Norman last week as a guest presenter for the University of Oklahoma’s State of American Politics Presidential Speakers Series.
In an interview with The Journal Record, Ryan said everyone in Congress knows how to solve the border crisis because they’ve all studied it. But the political agendas are standing in the way, just as they were in the 20 years he served as a House member from Wisconsin.
OU Daily: Ryan talks Trump, future of politics in student forum
Alongside lecturing at the Spring 2024 Presidential Speaker’s Series, Ryan held a public forum in the Price College of Business, where he discussed discouragement for young voters, populism’s role in the modern Republican party and the role of college students in the future of democracy.
According to Ryan, young voters are dissuaded from politics due to a lack of representation in both political parties, citing the ages of presidential candidates President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
“Younger voters are going to be drawn more towards younger people,” Ryan said. “Both parties have a problem with both of our tops of the ticket, Joe Biden and Donald Trump are basically 80 or pushing 80. Right now, younger people are seeing what’s out there and are looking for something else.”
Ryan said college students are responsible for decreasing political polarization. He added students should continue community involvement following college and seek diversity.
“It’s your job to try and take the sting out of the coarseness of our political dialogue and bring civility back in public conversations and the way you do that is you drop the phone and go and get yourself involved in civil society,” Ryan said. “Get involved in something out of college, where you’re spending time with people who don’t look or think like you or don’t come from where you come from, and learn how other peoples’ perspectives work.”
Ryan said the modern Republican party utilizes populism dedicated to a single person, Trump. He added personality-based populism is not durable, citing Trump’s potential to receive one more term.
“If your populism is untethered to any core set of ideas and principles, and in our current moment, tied to a person or a personality, that’s not good populism – that’s unhealthy populism,” Ryan said. “It’s not an ideology, it’s not a philosophy, it’s just a person and it’s a very inconsistent person at that.”
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Ryan said the Republican party requires “soul-searching” following Trump’s eventual departure from the public eye. Instead of Trump-related populism, Ryan believes Republicans will need to appeal to the majority of voters, fusing nationalists and traditional conservatives.
“Some kind of fusion of those policies and ideas hopefully will manifest itself into a coherent philosophy that is capable of speaking to the needs of the country and is capable of winning the hearts and the minds of a majority of the country,” Ryan said. “But that’s not going to happen until we’re through this moment and this moment is built around the guy.”
To watch Ryan’s full address at Oklahoma University, click here.