Paul Ryan Says He Voted For Donald Trump — But Doesn't Say His Name

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said Tuesday morning that he did, indeed, vote Donald Trump for president. But his comments were notable not so much for what he said but for what he didn't say.

"I stand where I've stood all fall and all summer," Ryan told "Fox and Friends" in an appearance Tuesday morning. "In fact I already voted here in Janesville for our nominee last week in early voting. We need to support our entire Republican ticket."

Missing in that quick recap of Ryan's trip to the ballot box: the name of the presidential nominee whose party Ryan leads in Congress.

It's no secret that Ryan and Trump aren't exactly the best of friends.

At some point during this election season, Ryan started playing the role of janitor — cleaning up after Trump's latest offensive or outlandish comments so "serious Republicans" could feel better about their party's choice for president.

So much so that it became somewhat of a running joke.

But he put a stop to that after the infamous "Trump tape" was released, saying he would focus on down-ballot races instead of making excuses for Trump at every turn. (Apparently, bragging about sexually assaulting women was too far — but mocking a disabled reporter, saying John McCain wasn't a war hero and proposing to ban an entire religion from America, among other things, wasn't.)

Ryan has apparently kept his word to distance himself from Trump.

The GOP presidential nominee has a rally in Wisconsin on Tuesday night, but Ryan said he didn't even realize that until 10 minutes before his television hit.

"I didn't know that," Ryan said.

He was on his way to Indiana to campaign for Republicans instead.

Image via Gage Skidmore, Flickr, used under Creative Commons