During a recent address to The Economic Club of Washington, D.C., Ryan revealed that woodchucks had munched the electrical wiring out of his Chevrolet Suburban over the winter.
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Ryan hasn't driven in the three years he's served as Speaker of the House, he said, because his government security detail provides transportation. During his time in office, the car was left in Wisconsin with his mother, who made a point to turn it on regularly to make sure that the engine still ran.
When his mother returned recently from spending the winter in Florida, she found that the SUV wouldn't start. Ryan had the Suburban towed to a mechanic, who deduced that a family of woodchucks had taken up residence in the underbody the vehicle.
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"They ate all of the wiring out of it...my car was eaten by animals. It's just dead," Ryan said.
The house speaker, who announced earlier this year that he would leave Congress at the end of his current term, said he planned to buy an F-150 to replace the Suburban.
Ryan, 48, also dispelled rumors that he is leaving office to run for president in 2020.
"You never say never to such things but I really do not have it in my mind, and for sure not while my kids are at home for the next five years," Ryan said.