"A lot of conflict:" Donald Trump supporters boo Paul Ryan, now what?
MILWAUKEE -- It was an eye-opening moment on Monday night in Green Bay. Donald Trump's supporters booing Speaker Paul Ryan in his home state. Trump and Ryan are at odds -- and control of the Republican Party is at stake.
The feud between Trump and Ryan started not even two weeks ago -- when this story broke.
"Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the p****. You can do anything," Trump was heard saying on audio tape.
Ryan said he was "sickened" by those comments from Trump in 2005. He uninvited Trump from a campaign event in Elkhorn where they were supposed to appear together.
Trump fired back with a flurry of tweets, accusing Ryan of not being a winner.
Brian Fraley
"There has to be tremendous anguish going on there, and a lot of conflict," said Brian Fraley, GOP strategist.
Fraley, a Ryan supporter who is outspoken against Trump, says the speaker is in a tough spot.
"When you have this kind of cult of personality, where does someone that's an ideological thought leader and a proven conservative like Paul Ryan -- how does he work with that?" Fraley said.
Part of the trouble say analysts, is that the two men are just different.
Ryan is a nine-term Congressman, a policy wonk who flew coach to Milwaukee after being elected Speaker last year.
Trump has made his wealth, his personality and most importantly, his outsider status central to his campaign.
Charles Franklin
"Republicans will ultimately choose who to vote for as president, and how that reflects their views of leaders like Paul Ryan is one of the great dilemmas the party is facing right now," said Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette University Law School poll.
Franklin's surveys show Trump continues to under-perform in southeast Wisconsin -- a vote-rich area for any Republican who isn't named Trump.
Ryan himself won a landslide victory over a Trump-inspired primary challenger. That might explain why, even after the Green Bay crowd booed Ryan, Gov. Scott Walker wasn't worried.
"Paul Ryan doesn't need any more defense right now. He got 84 percent of the vote in the primary," Gov. Walker said.
Speaker Paul Ryan
Yet, while his seat in Congress is not threatened by Trump, Ryan's Speakership could be.
Trump supporters in the U.S. House were unhappy with Ryan's refusal to support the nominee.
"Any Republican elected official that wants to distance themselves from Trump has to recognize that a little over three-quarters of their party are still to vote for him at least," Franklin said.
Donald Trump at Green Bay rally
That means Ryan's future may be tied to Trump long after the election.
"Heavy is the head that wears the crowd. That comes with being a leader. He has to wrestle with that," Fraley said.
Ryan's new strategy seems to be to ignore Trump's attacks. He has not addressed the chants from Monday night.