House Speaker Paul Ryan (left) in an interview Monday described himself as a complement" within the Republican Party to GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump (right). Credit: Associated Press

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House Speaker Paul Ryan says he sees himself "a complement" to Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump.

Ryan has been seen as a Republican balance to Trump, a perspective based on the contrast in policy and pitch between the GOP's highest-ranking elected official and the real estate mogul.

But in a Monday morning interview, the Janesville Republican said that's not how he views his place.

"I really do not see myself as a counterweight to Trump," he told the Journal Sentinel. "I see myself, and the House, as a complement to Trump."

Ryan, the 2012 Republican nominee for vice president, rarely mentions Trump by name in his public comments, and has avoided inserting himself in the 2016 race. Months ago, he anticipated a protracted and unpredictable contest and said it would be a mistake to dismiss the possibility of outsiders Trump or Ben Carson winning the GOP nomination.

Citing his role as speaker of the house, he also has said he will not be making an endorsement before the party has settled on a presidential candidate.

Despite that official posture of neutrality, Ryan did condemn Trump's call last month for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, saying that "this is not conservatism."

"This is not what this party stands for, and more importantly, this is not what this country stands for," he said at the time.

Ryan spoke to the Journal Sentinel early Monday morning before heading to Dallas, where he was set to be the guest of a Dallas minister during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event.

Omar Jahwar, the founder of Vision Regeneration, is a specialist hired in Texas state prisons. He also provides gang prevention, counseling and mentoring services in Dallas public schools. Jahwar was Ryan's guest at President Barack Obama's State of the Union address last week.

Ryan said he's excited about issues involving criminal justice reform and fighting poverty, as well as mental health care, adding that he thinks there are opportunities for common ground with Obama and Democrats in those areas.

He also said he has been urging fellow Republicans to avoid getting caught up in bickering.

"We often get sucked into the squabbles of the day," he said. "We need to raise our gaze to the horizon, so that we can tackle the country's biggest problems."