Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) gave an eye-wateringly awkward performance on CBS' 60 Minutes on Sunday.
Ryan attempted to dodge interviewer Scott Pelley's questions by pretending he didn't know anything about President-elect Donald Trump's contention that "millions of people" voted illegally for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
As he blinked uncomfortably, it appeared Ryan might even be on the verge of asking, "What's a tweet?" or "I've heard of this Donald Trump fellow you mentioned. Who is he, again?"
"Trump tweeted in the last week or so that he had actually won the popular vote if you deduct the millions that voted illegally," Pelley asked Ryan. "Do you believe that?"
"I don't know, I'm not really focused on these things," Ryan replied.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute," said Pelley. "You have an opinion on whether millions of Americans voted illegally."
"I have no way of backing that up," Ryan said. "I have no knowledge of such things."
Pelley said, "You don't believe that..."
"But I don't -- it doesn't matter to me," Ryan said. "He won the election."
Last week, Trump tweeted angrily that he would not only have won the Electoral College, but also the popular vote, except for “the millions of people who voted illegally.”
The claim has its origins in the right-wing conspiracy fever swamp, where rumors have flown that millions of Mexican nationals crossed the border on Election Day to vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Trump and Ryan have had an uneasy, at times contentious relationship. Currently, they are cooperating as Trump prepares to make his attempt to hold the highest elected office in the land.
Watch the video, embedded below:
