During an appearance on “The Situation Room”, Katrina Pierson, a spokesperson for Donald Trump suggested that Captain Humayun Khan was killed in Iraq due to a change in the rules of engagement under Barack Obama’s presidency.
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Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus backs Trump, but on Wednesday CNN reported Priebus was “incredibly upset” that the NY real estate mogul refused to endorse Ryan’s congressional re-election campaign. “Our volunteers and contributors are clearly committed to electing Donald J. Trump as President in November”, the Trump campaign’s finance chairman, Steven Mnuchin, said in a statement. One idea being floated was to have a senior adviser travel with Trump to help him stay on message.
Her defection comes amid deep concerns at the top of the Grand Old Party about Trump, after a seemingly never-ending stream of controversies that include the nominee urging Russian Federation to hack into Clinton’s emails. But there was no evidence GOP officials were backing off their support of Trump in the White House race.
“It is clear to me that Secretary Clinton’s temperament, global experience and commitment to America’s bedrock national values make her the far better choice”, Whitman said in the statement published on Facebook.
But Johnson refused to withdraw his support of Trump. Johnson was asked what it would take for him to no longer back Trump.
Trump has been in a public fight with Khan’s parents after Khan’s father criticized the Republican nominee at last week’s Democratic convention.
Many Republican leaders, including Ryan and McCain, have criticized Trump’s subsequent attacks on the parents. Even his longtime ally, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, said it was inappropriate to attack the Khans. He wrote on Twitter: “There is great unity in my campaign, perhaps greater than ever before”. I want to thank everyone for your tremendous support.
“Hillary Clinton did”, Pierson added.
Paul Manafort says in an interview with Fox News Channel that “the candidate is in control of his campaign”. “The campaign is in very good shape. We are organised. We are moving forward”, Manafort said.
Trump’s always unruly campaign has been hit by disorder in recent days.
The aide did not indicate whether anyone had requested a get-together of Trump and Ryan, but in response to a query as to whether they might meet to patch things up, the aide told Reuters, “The speaker has a full schedule – can’t back out of previous commitments in the (congressional) district”.
Republican donor Meg Whitman has endorsed his rival Hillary Clinton, saying Mr Trump’s “demagoguery” had undermined the national fabric.
The solid month of July fundraising left the campaign with $37 million in cash-on-hand while the joint Trump Victory Fund shared by the Trump campaign, the RNC and several state Republican parties banked another $37 million.
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Clinton’s campaign committee itself reported it raised about $63 million in July.
