WTMJ Radio's Steve Scaffidi spoke exclusively to Gov. Scott Walker Wednesday about those reports before Ryan's
"I talked to him before a while back when it was kind of the start of the rumblings this might be the case. At that point, he made it clear he had made a decision," said Gov. Walker.
The Governor describes Ryan as a "great friend, a great leader, a wonderful guy" who "stepped up" in his personal journey after the loss of his father as a teenager, with former Presidential candidate Jack Kemp being a personal mentor to the Speaker.
"I prayed with him quite a bit when he was being considered for Speaker," said Walker.
"Paul never wanted to be Speaker. He's not a political guy, a political junkie. He's a policy wonk, through and through. One of the biggest things he wanted to do was reform the tax code. Obviously that was a big part of the work he did at the end of last year."
Walker also discussed Ryan as a vice presidential candidate for Mitt Romney in 2012.
"Paul was always a policy guy. It inflated a bit when Romney asked him to be on the ticket, but the reason Paul was on the ticket was that he believed...Mitt was serious about governing, that he had a clear plan and he thought Paul wasn't a political asset, but a policy and and intellectual asset...that he could convince Congress to act on some of the really important things he felt at the time needed to happen in this country," said Walker.
"There is barely a person in that first district, Republican or Democrat alike, that Paul hasn't worked with, talked to, touched along the way," the Governor added.
"Paul has always been well connected to his district, and more importantly to his family."
