Paul Ryan Image by Getty

By Ari Feldman April 12, 2018

House Speaker Paul Ryan has announced he will not be seeking reelection in November — and the far right couldn’t be happier, the Washington Post reported.

Ryan has long been a target of far-right media outlets and “alt-right” social media figures. He has been ridiculed as a “globalist,” a moniker often given to Jews that is meant to identify someone who puts the rest of the world before the U.S. On Wednesday, Breitbart published two articles in that vein: “Paul Ryan’s Globalist Legacy: Ignoring America’s Working Class at the Behest of Billionaire Koch Brothers” and “9 Times Paul Ryan Put American Workers Last, Foreigners First.”

Trump supporters on Twitter echoed Breitbart’s derision.

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Trump supporters also saw Ryan’s exit as a sign that Trumpism is now the dominant Republican ideology.

“One, the free trade, more interventionist, establishment. That’s Paul Ryan,” said Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “And the other, a more America first populism. That’s Trump. The speaker’s departure is a clear sign in my mind that Trump’s vision, not Ryan’s, is the future of the party.”

Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman

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