A day after Trump won yet another state on his way to the Republican nomination, Ryan's address to the nation essentially boiled down to this: We should all forsake the divisive nature of Trump's campaign and just get along.

"I have made it a mission of my speakership to raise our gaze and aim for a brighter horizon," he said. "Instead of talking about what politics is today, I want to talk about what politics can be."

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But Ryan is a smart guy. He knows one cliche-laden speech isn't going to stop in their tracks the protests and sometimes-violent, often racially tinged clashes at Trump rallies that have come to epitomize this divisive presidential election.

Ryan is also not oblivious to the fact that Trump could very well win the nomination and lose the general election, handing yet another presidential election Republicans thought they should have won to Democrats.

Which is why Ryan's speech Wednesday makes more sense when viewed through a much more political, personal lense: It sounded like he was laying the groundwork to disassociate himself from the chaos his party will almost certainly devolve into if (or when) Trump gets the nomination and emerge from the charred remains as a shining alternative. The day after Election Day, Ryan can wave his words like a light in the darkness: Follow me. I have the way to a better, more united, more winning Republican Party.

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In other words, this speech was Ryan getting ready to say: "I told you so" to those in his party, some of whom he works with in the House, who have supported Trump. Ryan has slowly, carefully been pitching himself as the Republican Party's anti-Trump, and Wednesday's speech sounded like he hoped to emerge as an alternative to a party burned by Trump for 2020.

Indeed, Ryan's presidential ambitions are never far from people's minds. He spent the past week batting down rumors and reports he'd consider accepting the nomination at the Republicans' convention in July if it came down to him or Trump. And here are Google search trends during his speech — questions No. 1 and 5 speak to that:

But it's a reasonable question to ask just how much Ryan has done to stop Trump. Yes, he's denounced specific comments Trump has made three times now. But beyond that, Ryan has also said he'll support Trump if he were to become the GOP nominee. Any Republican candidate would be a better president than any Democratic president, Ryan has said.

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That sounds a lot like trying to have your cake and eat it too — saying Trump is a destructive force, but that at least he's not a Democrat. And if you're a Trump supporter, it probably leads you to believe Ryan doesn't think Trump is that bad. After all, he would support the guy.

Ryan, quite frankly, sounded Wednesday like he was pleading for a change he wasn't willing to take a stand for. He mentioned Trump exactly zero times in his speech. And while we get that Ryan is doing his best to stay neutral since he's the guy who presides over Republicans' nominating convention in July, his optimistic words about unity sound out of tune with the desperation many in his party are feeling right about now.

His comments are even more perplexing given that Ryan has tried to relay a similar message before, to no avail. In December, he gave his first major public address after being thrust into the job as speaker, when he practically pleaded to his fellow House Republicans to get along so that they could lay the framework for a Republican president in November.

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Just a few months later, that dream is in tatters — though more so in the presidential race than in Ryan's House caucus. And as the Republican establishment helplessly watches it get destroyed from the sidelines, there's a sense that it's every man and woman for himself or herself come November.