Billionaire Charles Koch thinks House Speaker Paul Ryan would be a "shoo-in" to serve as the Republican Party's presidential nominee if this summer's convention is contested, according to a report.
The Huffington Post reports Koch has told friends if Donald Trump comes up at least 100 delegate votes short of the 1,237 minimum to secure the nomination, Ryan would be a solid choice.
A source told the Post the Koch brothers support the agenda Ryan is chasing as House speaker, a position he took over last October after John Boehner retired.
The general counsel for Koch Industries, however, told the Post the report was "completely false."
"Let me be clear, we never have advocated for a specific candidate in a presidential primary, and we have no plans to do so now," Mark Holden said.
Top Republicans are predicting that Ryan will be on the November ballot as the party's presidential nominee. A source told
Politico Ryan is the ideal choice for the GOP.
"He's the most conservative, least establishment member of the establishment," the source said. "That's what you need to be."
Ryan, on the other hand, is trying to squash the presidential rumors that are suddenly swirling around him.
"People put my name in this thing, I said, 'Get my name out of that,'" Ryan told
Hugh Hewitt on his radio program Monday.
Fox News political commentator Juan Williams argued in a commentary for
The Hill that Ryan and Trump will duke it out for the party's presidential pick at the Cleveland convention this summer. But that can only happen if Trump fails to shore up the nomination beforehand.
For what it's worth,
Boehner said last month he would support a Ryan presidential bid.
"If we don't have a nominee who can win on the first ballot, I'm for none of the above," Boehner said. "They all had a chance to win. None of them won. So I'm for none of the above. I'm for Paul Ryan to be our nominee."
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