Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s primary challenger Paul Nehlen is blaming a Ryan supporter for “significant vandalism” to his campaign truck over Memorial Day weekend.
“When your opponent’s supporters feel the need to vandalize your campaign property, you know you’ve gotten under their skin,” Nehlen stated in a campaign press release on Tuesday.
Nehlen, who is challenging Ryan in Wisconsin’s 1st District, alleges his bright yellow “Dump Ryan” dump truck was vandalized on Monday while parked in a post office parking lot along a Memorial Day parade route in Rochester, Wisconsin.
“The truck has really become a mascot for this campaign. People honk when they see the truck going down the road. They like to have their picture taken with it. They even post sightings of it on Facebook and Twitter when they spot it driving down the road. It’s a great conversation starter,” Nehlen stated. “We’ve even had those squeeze-type stress relievers made up in the shape of the dump truck. There’s been huge demand for them among our campaign supporters.”
According to Nehlen’s press release, “one of the truck’s tires was intentionally deflated, some lettering was torn from one side of the vehicle, and duct tape was used to cover large portions of the truck’s message: ‘To get the dirt on Ryan, go to DumpPaulRyan.com.’ Trash was also thrown in the bed of the truck.”
Nehlen’s staff filed an incident report to the Racine County Sheriff’s Department.
“It’s unfortunate that the truck was damaged,” adds Nehlen. “But this campaign is undeterred. In fact, we know now more than ever that we have the Ryan camp worried. We’re pressing on.”
Breitbart News reached out to Ryan’s office for comment on the allegation, but has not yet received a response.