Romney, Ryan huddle over weekend march 3, 2016
By Jesse Byrnes
Getty Images
Former Republican running mates Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan shared a meal over the weekend as part of a campaign swing out West for House candidates, an aide to the Speaker told CNN.
The Ryan aide declined to say if the presidential race was a topic of conversation, maintaining that the Wisconsin Republican only learned of Romney’s big anti-Donald Trump speech Wednesday night.
“I know Mitt feels strongly about this election, and he’s going to speak his mind,” Ryan said on “Fox and Friends,” declining to personally criticize Trump.
Local media reports last week indicated that those making large donations to Ryan’s political action committee could get time on the slopes in Utah with him and Romney.
The pair have been close since their White House bid in 2012 and have both emerged recently as influential voices in the GOP pushing back on rhetoric from the current front-runner.
Romney unloaded on Trump as a “fraud” who lacks the temperament to be president and peddles failed business ventures during a speech Thursday at the University of Utah.
Trump went on the offensive ahead of Romney’s speech, bashing him as a “failed” candidate.
After Romney’s speech, Ryan again repeatedly declined to attack Trump, though he left open the possibility to do so in the future if he felt Trump or his rivals stepped over the line.
“If I see ideas and comments that mislead the people as to who were are as Republicans, I’m going to speak out on those,” Ryan said at his weekly news conferenc
