Paul Ryan rejects calls to support paid family leave

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan rejected calls to support paid family leave on Sunday, even after many critics have called on him to do so.

Ryan insisted that House Republicans allow him to carve out time for his family if they wanted him to agree to become speaker. Many contrasted this with his longtime opposition to paid family leave and accused him of hypocrisy.

Speaking to “Fox News Sunday,” however, Ryan scoffed at the idea of supporting paid family leave.

“I don’t think people asked me to be speaker so I can take more money from hard-working taxpayers, so I can create some new federal entitlement,” he said. Rather, he explained, he wanted to be a “citizen legislator” who spent time with his children on the weekends.