Speaker Paul Ryan of the U.S. House of Representatives speaks during his weekly briefing for reporters on Capitol Hill in photo taken Feb. 11. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan plans to definitively rule out a bid for president this year, amid persistent speculation that he could emerge as the GOP nominee from a contested Republican convention.
The Wisconsin Republican scheduled a mid-afternoon statement Tuesday at the Republican National Committee to disavow any interest in the presidency this year. An aide confirmed the content of his remarks, demanding anonymity to discuss them ahead of time.
Ryan’s planned statement comes as a contested convention looks likelier by the day. Ryan and his aides have continually denied the speaker has presidential ambitions this year, but their statements have not put the issue to rest. That’s partly because Ryan also denied he wanted to be speaker last fall after then-Speaker John Boehner announced his resignation, but ended up with the job anyway.
Tuesday’s appearance will be an attempt to shut down the speculation once and for all. Yet it may not be enough to quiet the talk about Ryan, given the unpredictable twists of the GOP presidential primary.
Front-runner Donald Trump looks unlikely to accumulate the necessary delegates to clinch the nomination ahead of the July Republican convention in Cleveland. That would allow his lead challenger, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, to make a play for the job.
But if neither candidate can get the delegate votes necessary as balloting progresses in the convention, chaos could result and along with it the potential for some other Republican who’s not currently running to emerge. As a young and charismatic conservative, popular with donors and with some conservative activists, Ryan’s name has been at the top of that list for months.
Speaker Paul Ryan of the U.S. House of Representatives speaks during his weekly briefing for reporters on Capitol Hill in photo taken Feb. 11. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) 
