Ryan: House will rally around nominee

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Wednesday couldn’t guarantee that House Republicans would keep the majority this fall if GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump wins the party’s nomination, calling the 2016 cycle “unpredictable.”

“I don’t think conventional wisdom works this time, this year, anymore. The one thing we can predict is it’s all unpredictable,” Ryan said during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” a day after Trump’s dominating sweep in five Northeastern states.

{mosads}“One thing about elections is you always act as if everything is in danger,” Ryan continued. “Never rest on your laurels, never feel complacent or comfortable. The day you do that is the day you probably should lose.”

There are serious concerns among GOP elites that Trump, the brash Manhattan billionaire and political outsider, could threaten down-ballot Republicans if he’s at the top of the ticket. House Republicans hold a massive 30-seat advantage over Democrats, but some haven’t ruled out the possibility that the chamber could flip.

Ryan, who’s been putting forth a parallel GOP agenda in the House, insisted the party would unify around whoever wins the nomination.

“We are capable of providing a unifying front that is good for the House, good for the Senate, good for our state legislatures and good for winning the White House,” Ryan said.

The Speaker, who will serve as the ceremonial chairman of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this summer, has remained neutral in the primary contest.

In a separate interview on CNN, the Speaker reiterated that the process for selecting a nominee will be done “fairly and transparently.” But he added that those won’t cut it — to win the nomination, a candidate must reach a simple majority of delegates.

“We are not going to bend the rules for anybody,” Ryan said.