House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan worries “tribalism” and “identity politics” are becoming "the new norm of how politics is waged."
In an interview conducted Oct. 16 and aired Sunday on "Face the Nation," the Wisconsin Republican said to turn that trend around, there must be "inclusive politics."
"I worry about tribal identity politics becoming the new norm of how politics is waged,” he said. “As conservatives, we thought this was sort of a left wing thing."
"The best way to combat tribalism is to starve it of its oxygen, which is anxiety — economic anxiety, security anxiety,” he added. “And if we can pass policies that help improve people's lives, make them more confident about the future, then they'll be less prone to be, to be swayed by the kind of tribalism identity politics we see these days."
He also hailed Congress’ bipartisan achievements — despite a lack of coverage by the press.
“We passed out of the House about a thousand bills,” he said, calling it “one of the most productive sessions of Congress in a generation.”
“And of those roughly thousand bills, over 80 percent of them are bipartisan bills. We've tackled the opioids [crisis], we've tackled human trafficking, all of those are bipartisan but they don't get reported. It doesn't sell.”
And he said President Donald Trump has shown bipartisan cooperation on tax reform.
"On economic growth and tax reform… military, helping veterans, those are things that he has led us to that have really brought people together,” Ryan said. “Talks about these — that is inclusive.”
“This is an incredibly productive term of legislation,” he added. “The president has signed so many new big, bold reforms into law, most of those are bipartisan."
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