PRESIDENTIAL RACE | Paul Ryan wants Trump to emulate Pence in next debate

In the next presidential debate, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan wants Donald Trump to follow the lead of his running mate, Mike Pence.

The pressure for Trump to perform well against Hillary Clinton is on as ballots are already being cast in several states.

“I think these debates have a huge impact, probably more than in past times. And so I’m hoping for a really good debate on Sunday, and then he’s got one more after that. I think Mike Pence knocked it out of the park. I think he did a great job,” Ryan said today on “The Laura Ingraham Show.”

During the vice presidential debate earlier this week, Tim Kaine, Clinton’s running mate, frequently interrupted Pence, hammering home Trump’s insults of women, Mexicans and others. Yet Pence was undeterred, continuously sidestepping Kaine’s demands that he defend Trump’s views.

Trump, in the first debate with Clinton last month, was often put on the defensive, forced to explain himself rather than attack his Democratic rival.

On Thursday, Trump held a town-hall-style event in anticipation of his next meeting with Clinton on Sunday.

“We’re hoping for a good debate performance, and I think Donald’s going to do that,” said Ryan, who will make his first campaign appearance with Trump in Wisconsin on Saturday. “I think he’s got the potential to absolutely do that. … [I]f we can pick up where Mike Pence just left off, I think this whole thing can come together.”