House Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanKenosha will be a good bellwether in 2020 At indoor rally, Pence says election runs through Wisconsin Juan Williams: Breaking down the debates MORE (R-Wis.) said Thursday that he tries to “lead by example” when it comes to influencing President Trump’s behavior and character.

During a question and answer session at Boeing’s Everett, Wash., plant, an employee asked Ryan how he could sway Trump to show more “ethical behavior” than his comments on the deadly violence between white supremacists and counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Va., earlier this month.

“You control your own actions and you lead by example,” Ryan said, adding that he called on Americans to “condemn [racism] unequivocally” after Trump’s comments.

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Trump drew widespread criticism for blaming “many sides” for violence between white supremacist groups and counterprotesters that left one dead and dozens wounded during a Charlottesville rally.

James Alex Fields Jr., an Ohio man who marched with the white supremacists, has been arrested for allegedly driving his car through a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one woman and injuring 19 others.

Trump first failed to denounce by name the white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups that triggered that violence, stoking concerns from lawmakers and corporate executives who then fled informal boards intended to advise the president.

The president reaped more outrage when he blamed “alt-left” protesters for violent actions and said there were “many fine people” among the groups led by white supremacists and neo-Nazis that organized the march on Charlottesville.

Ryan was among several Republican leaders who denounced Trump’s comments without actually mentioning the president or his specific remarks.

“The words we use are very important.” Ryan said Thursday.

“Every single one of us needs to stand up and speak to this. We have different speaking styles, clearly,” he said, referring to himself and the president.

Ryan said his approach was critical to working with Trump to pass the GOP agenda, which has been threatened by the lengthy, failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act and looming deadlines for must-pass fiscal legislation.

Ryan — citing several successful Republican bills to boost defense spending, crackdown on abuse in the Department of Veterans Affairs, and planned efforts on tax reform — said passing the Republican agenda is critical to strengthening the U.S. economy and military.

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, who joined Ryan for the session, added that “our enduring values as a company are the most important of our mission and purpose. Our commitment to integrity, our commitment to diversity and inclusion, to respecting our teammates — that’s what makes this business work.”

“That’s the foundation for everything we do,” said Muilenburg, who stayed on Trump’s manufacturing jobs council despite numerous other member defections following the president’s Charlottesville comments. That council and another board set up to advise Trump on the economy disbanded soon after in the face of the mass exodus.