One of the more amusing things about this election cycle is the dismissiveness the Trumpkins have had towards Paul Ryan when it suits their needs. Like everyone else who has been cool to Trump, they like to loudly proclaim that he doesn’t matter, and that no one cares what he thinks.

Of course, like him or not, Paul Ryan is third in the line of succession to the Presidency and is the highest ranking Republican in the whole country, so even Donald Trump himself knows better than to pretend that Ryan does not matter. That’s why Trump has been throwing Ryan’s name around at every opportunity to claim that the Speaker of the House is basically coming to terms with him as the nominee, because he knows that would be a big deal.

It’s been a big deal since March, when Trump was throwing Ryan’s name around about a phone call he had with Ryan. Trump at the time tried to characterize the call as Ryan calling to congratulate him and basically to anoint him as the likely nominee; Ryan’s people immediately clarified that the only reason they called Trump was that someone in Trump’s organization had called Ryan and requested a return call, so Ryan called to see what Trump wanted.

Now that Ryan is back in the news, Trump is yet again claiming that Ryan has been claiming to be his buddy all along – even going so far as to claim that Ryan called to congratulate him after his New York win (which was, you will recall, at the end of April). Ryan’s aides immediately said, nope, never happened. In fact, they said, the last time we talked to Trump was that phone conversation in March. When confronted with this, the Trump campaign said, basically, “Oh yeah, that’s what we meant.”

A spokesperson for Speaker Ryan disputed Trump’s claim about the timing and content of the conversation. According to Ryan’s office, the last time the two spoke was during the first week of March and they spoke about the Speaker’s agenda. When asked for a clarification, Trump’s campaign manager confirmed that the conversation Trump was referring to was that March chat.

We’re just now in the second week of May, so if Trump legitimately can’t remember whether Paul Ryan called at the beginning of March or the end of April, then his mental function (specifically his memory) is even worse than expected. But more important than the date is the alleged purpose of Ryan’s call, which Trump is still falsely claiming was a call to congratulate him on being the nominee, as if to intentionally portray it as Ryan coming to Trump with hat in hand, as opposed to it being the other way around.