Paul Ryan’s latest explanation for Trump’s tweets might be the worst of all

Mark Leibovich's New York Times Magazine profile of outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) is essentially a series of attempts to get Speaker Ryan to account for his regular punts on President Trump's tweets. Speaker Ryan argues that the president of the United States is saying, doing and speculating about things he doesn't believe to elicit a reaction.

In other words, he's saying Trump is being dishonest. That's undoubtedly true, but it's actually pretty remarkable for someone in Ryan's position to admit it. I have no doubt that much of Trump's Twitter persona is about provoking and trying to get people to overreact. It's been his entire M.O. since he became a public figure so many decades ago. But inherent in this approach is a real brand of dishonesty that Ryan seems to be glossing over. It's also playing games with something that's extremely serious: the very American political system. 

Ryan's intent here is to minimize the tweets— to pretend they aren't actually presidential statements, despite the White House saying they are. But even if you set aside the question of when we're supposed to take President Trump literally and when we're not, Speaker Ryan is still accusing the president of being what's colloquially known as a B.S. artist. That appears to be the best explanation he's landed upon. It might actually be the most honest explanation, but that doesn't make it a good one.