“Only Republicans are offering a better way,” Paul Ryan wrote in an op-ed. “Vote Republican — Donald Trump, our Senate candidates and our House candidates — so we can start turning things around," Ryan wrote. | AP Photo Ryan warms to Trump ahead of election After telling fellow lawmakers he wouldn't campaign with the GOP nominee, the speaker is emphatically urging voters to elect him.

As Election 2016 draws to a close, Paul Ryan is coming around to Donald Trump.

After keeping Trump at arm's length throughout most of the campaign, and telling fellow lawmakers he wouldn't campaign with or defend the GOP nominee, the speaker has changed his tune the past few days. He told Fox News last week that he voted for Trump. On Saturday, Ryan offered to appear with the GOP nominee at a rally in Wisconsin — though, shortly after, Trump's campaign canceled the event. This weekend, Ryan penned an op-ed for CNN urging Republicans to “vote Trump.”


And on Sunday, after FBI Director James Comey again effectively cleared Hillary Clinton in the bureau's email probe, Ryan forcefully urged voters to elect Trump.

"The American people have the opportunity to ensure Secretary Clinton never gets her hands on classified information again. Let's bring the Clinton era to an end by voting for Donald Trump on Tuesday," Ryan said in one his most forceful endorsements of Trump yet.

It's a marked shift for the speaker. In early October, after Trump was caught bragging on tape about making unwanted sexual advances on women, Ryan said he would focus his attention on keeping his House majority and was finished with Trump, though Ryan never officially withdrew his endorsement. (Similarly, the cautious Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell offered a strong endorsement of Trump last week, urging voters to make him the "most powerful Republican in America" after taking a self-imposed vow of silence for nearly a month.)

Ryan's emphatic support of Trump comes some Republicans and top Trump allies are criticizing the speaker for distancing himself from the party’s nominee. Trump called Ryan a “weak leader,” and several allies of the speaker have expressed concern that Trump will blame him if he loses Wisconsin or the election by a thin margin.

Any backlash could complicate Ryan's efforts to round up the 218 votes he'll need to continue as House speaker in a January floor vote. He's already facing discontent from several members of the House Freedom Caucus. With Republicans certain to lose seats on Tuesday, a small number of Republicans could block Ryan from clinching a majority.

Still, it’s too early to gauge the headwinds against Ryan. Several Freedom Caucus members, such as Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) and Trump allies like Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), have defended Ryan.

In the meantime, Ryan, who initially withheld his endorsement from Trump and notably did not mention his name at campaign events, appears to be trying to make amends. In the CNN op-ed, he wrote that the election “offers a fundamental choice: between staying on the current path of decline, or taking a better way that offers more freedom for every single American.”

“Only Republicans are offering a better way,” he wrote. “Vote Republican — Donald Trump, our Senate candidates and our House candidates — so we can start turning things around," Ryan wrote.

Around the same time, he told a group of local reporters in Wisconsin that he would appear with Trump at a Sunday rally if it materialized, according to The Cap Times in Madison.

"We don't know if it's scheduled firm or not yet, but I intend to do it if he's here," Ryan said. "Here's the point: We're going from here to Mukwonago to go campaign with Mike Pence. So everybody's schedule is a little bit in flux in these closing moments, but if our nominee comes, we'll campaign with him."

Trump's campaign then canceled the event, though Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said on Sunday that Trump may go to Wisconsin on Monday.