Story highlights House Speaker Paul Ryan said he wished the President tweeted less

Throughout a town hall Monday, Ryan was asked about Trump's behavior

(CNN) House Speaker Paul Ryan said Monday he believed President Donald Trump "messed up" in his response to the recent racial violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, when he equated neo-Nazis and white supremacists with counterprotesters.

"I do believe that he messed up in his comments on Tuesday when it sounded like a moral equivocation or at the very least moral ambiguity when we need extreme moral clarity," Ryan t old CNN's Jake Tapper at a town hall in Racine, Wisconsin, referencing a news conference Trump had last week.

The Wisconsin Republican's criticism of the President was clear and unsparing even as Ryan said that he believes the President has since clarified his comments.

It's not the first time Ryan has criticized Trump's rhetoric, but his break with Trump was significant as the speaker prepares to work with the President on a full agenda this fall including tax reform and raising the debt ceiling.

When asked by an audience member whether he would back censuring Trump, Ryan said he would not back such a measure, adding that the issue cannot devolve into a partisan fight.

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