A veteran lawmaker and close ally of Speaker Paul Ryan suggested Thursday the Wisconsin Republican could be a “figure of destiny” and possibly capture the GOP nomination in a chaotic contested convention.

“I take him at his word. I don’t think he has any desire to be the presidential nominee. If he did, he would have run for it,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said in an interview on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers.” “But sometimes you can be a figure of destiny, and he was very much that in the Speaker’s race.”

John Boehner R-Ohio) resigned and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) abruptly dropped out of the race to replace him, many GOP colleagues turned to Ryan. He resisted at first, but after a week of deliberation, he finally agreed and won the top job in the House.

“Frankly, it became evident he really was the only person that could have united the conference, gotten us through the end of last year, and got us off to a decent start this year,” Cole said.