Paul Ryan tells GOP colleagues he'll continue to support Donald Trump
In a closed-door meeting Wednesday morning with House Republican colleagues, Speaker Paul Ryan reaffirmed his endorsement of Donald Trump and encouraged others to join him.
"There was no controversy in the room," New York Rep. Chris Collins said after the meeting was over. Collins, however, hinted that there was little enthusiasm either, noting Ryan's comments were not met with applause.
The House speaker's statement Tuesday that what Trump had said about Judge Gonzalo Curiel is "racist," but he still supports him drew criticism from the media, that was perhaps best summed up by the New York Daily News cover showing side-by-side photos of Ryan and Trump with the caption "I'm with racist" (after Hillary Clinton won the Democratic nomination, the Daily News decided to change its cover).
Ryan started the meeting by telling the conference that he still felt comfortable supporting the GOP presumptive nominee, despite recent controversies. He has said repeatedly that he will criticize Trump when he feels it's necessary.
On Tuesday, several GOP lawmakers denounced Trump's comments suggesting U.S. District Judge Curiel would be biased in overseeing the Trump University lawsuits because of his Mexican heritage.
Ryan also renounced Trump's comments Tuesday in an interview with John Dickerson that will air Sunday on "Face the Nation."
"I do think that those comments are racist comments," Ryan said. "That's why I've disavowed them completely. What bothers me about the comments is it doesn't reflect who we are or what we think or how we think as Republicans."
Trump had a message for Republicans who took issue with the comments later Tuesday in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, telling them they "have to get over it" and "shouldn't be angry for so long."
In his brief, scripted victory speech Tuesday night in New York following Tuesday's primary contests, Trump did not mention Curiel.
CBS News intern John Bat contributed to this report.