Donald Trump reversed course on Friday, August 5 (Saturday, August 6 in the Philippines) and endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan for re-election, seeking to end deep divisions within the Republican Party and stem his presidential campaign’s bleeding after several self-inflicted wounds.
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In an attempt to ease party tensions, Donald Trump has endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan’s run for reelection, along with Senators John McCain and Kelly Ayotte. “We may disagree on a couple of things but mostly we agree”, the Guardian quoted him as saying.
It’s been a long journey for Trump, however, who told the Washington Post on Tuesday: “I like Paul, but these are terrible times for our country”.
“I need a Republican Senate and House to accomplish all of the changes that we have to make”. Very important. We’ll work together.
In comments that could’ve just as easily referenced Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric on the campaign trail this cycle, Ryan added of Nehlen’s openness to deporting Muslims: “I, for the life of me, have a hard time understanding the kind of thinking behind this, but unfortunately we see some of it these days”. “I’m not quite there yet”. So extending an olive branch to Paul Ryan – the popular Republican representative of the 1st District of Wisconsin – looks like a strategic move for Trump if he wants the support of fellow Republicans hoping for a strong challenger to defeat Hillary Clinton come November.
Trump also said that he backed Sen.
The Trump endorsement culminates a week in which both men traded insults.
“I support and endorse”. McCain, a former Navy pilot, was tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
In the Post interview, Trump said McCain had done a bad job for veterans and faulted Ayotte, one of the party’s most vulnerable incumbents, for giving him “zero support”.
In another Friday morning interview, Ryan told WTMJ’s Charlie Sykes that “I see no goal in doing this tit-for-tat, petty back and forth with Donald Trump, because it serves no good objective in my mind”. During the same interview, he also withheld support from Arizona Sen.
Although Trump essentially clinched the nomination in early May when rivals John Kasich and Ted Cruz dropped out of the running for the GOP’s presidential nomination, Ryan waited until June to offer his endorsement of Trump. He also called Ayotte “weak” and claimed to be beating her in polls, although the two are not competing and the senator has higher favorable numbers than Trump.
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“We have to unite”, Trump said, speaking at a campaign rally in the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
