Paul Ryan answers questions during his weekly news conference on April 28, in Washington. | Getty Ryan calls on conservatives to defeat Clinton

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Tuesday called upon conservatives and Republicans to unite and defeat Hillary Clinton in the fall. But that unity, he cautioned, cannot be faked.

During a discussion with the Wall Street Journal's Gerald Seib livestreamed on Facebook, the Wisconsin Republican was asked if there is any way to compromise with Donald Trump that would not constitute a betrayal of conservative ideals and policies.


"Of course. Of course," Ryan responded. "Absolutely, I do."

But Ryan, who last week said he was not yet ready back Trump, didn't say who he thinks conservatives should vote for.

“Well, look we’re going to get into this whole thing," he said. "That’s what this whole conversation is. What I want to see is all conservatives rally together to win this election and defeat Hillary Clinton and make sure we put conservatives on the Supreme Court, make sure we keep Congress. This is the mountain we have to climb.”

“Look, we’ve got the biggest majority in the House since 1928. Fifty-four Republican senators. We have huge majorities in the statehouses and governorships. We’ve got one more hill to climb, one more mountain to climb, it’s what I keep saying and we will climb this if we all as conservatives rally around principles and advance a common agenda and common principles going forward and wins this election," Ryan said. "I believe we can do that, but we can’t fake it. We can’t pretend. We have to actually unify and do it.”

Ryan and Trump are due to meet on Thursday in Washington.