Paul Ryan is quite dismayed at the tone this election has taken, with all the insults and and bullying and name-calling and meanness coming... from the Clinton campaign. And he thinks Donald Trump deserves an apology!

Early on Thursday, in an interview broadcast on Israeli TV, Clinton brought up a recent article in Time Magazine written by Matt Olsen, the former head of the National Counterterrorism Center titled "Why ISIS Supports Trump."

Clinton stated:

“I found it even surprising how clear and compelling the case was where he quoted ISIS spokespeople rooting for Donald Trump’s victory because Trump has made Islam and Muslims a part of his campaign and basically, Matt Olson argues, the jihadists see this as a great gift."

And they do! In the article in question, Olson does not just speculate, he specifically cites examples of ISIS members and spokespeople saying they would benefit if Trump were to win the election.

In August, one ISIS spokesman wrote: “I ask Allah to deliver America to Trump.” Another supporter declared: “The ‘facilitation’ of Trump’s arrival in the White House must be a priority for jihadists at any cost!!!” ISIS is working to drum up support for the candidate it has called “the perfect enemy.”

Not to mention the fact that terrorist groups have actually used clips of Trump in their recruitment videos!

This makes a lot of sense. If I had a terrorist organization and I were trying to recruit members by convincing them that they are hated by our enemy (in this case, the United States), I would want nothing more than for that country to be led by a guy running around calling us all evil. I would also want him to be a total idiot who doesn't know what the hell he is doing. Donald Trump hits both of these marks! I am not a terrorist or a counterterrorism expert and even I know that.

But Paul Ryan, the Amy Vanderbilt of Congress, thinks it is totally rude of Clinton to bring this up. Surely, if ISIS members were going around saying they would love for Hillary Clinton to be President and using her in recruitment videos, Trump would have the tact to never bring this up.

In a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt on Thursday morning, Hewitt asked Ryan if Clinton should apologize -- and his answer was basically "She should, but won't, because she is a jerk."

"Sure, I do. But she won’t. I mean, look, they’re going to call each other these kinds of names. It’s just, I don’t know, I don’t see why she thinks this is good for her, but I think it just shows, you know, you can just sort of see a person at the end of the day, what they’re like."

Since this interaction occurred on the radio, we cannot tell if he was able to keep a straight face while saying this.

And SURE, I get it. Paul Ryan is aware of the fact that "what Donald Trump is like" is a pretty big obstacle for his candidate, so he's trying do do a "Well Hillary Clinton is mean ALSO!" thing. But there's a pretty big difference between discussing facts and legitimate faults of the opposing candidate and going around calling people names and spreading bizarre conspiracy theories.

But whatever! So ISIS thinks Trump will be great for them! How is that even a big deal? It's not like he coughed or something.

[Talking Points Memo]