Donald Trump endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan and Arizona Sen.
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He reiterated his support for Mr Trump hours before the endorsement – but he noted that his support was not a “blank cheque”, and pledged to speak out against the businessman’s divisive positions if necessary.
“We will have disagreements but we will disagree as friends and never stop working together toward victory”, Trump said during a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wis.
“In our shared mission to make America great again, I support and endorse our Speaker of the House Paul Ryan”.
But Trump’s assault on Clinton’s character also came as he himself faced stinging criticism from top United States officials, including a damning editorial on Friday in which the former acting head of the CIA, Michael Morell, a well-respected and non-partisan figure, endorsed Clinton and warned that Trump “is not only unqualified for the job, but he may well pose a threat to our national security”.
“And while I’m at it, I hold in the highest esteem Sen”.
“If you really focused on Hillary Clinton’s weaknesses and the Obama economy’s weaknesses, you could change these numbers”, Graham said.
Whether Toomey is right is a key question this year, as Republicans battle to defend Senate seats in battleground states including Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Hampshire and Florida.
His visit to the midstate comes a week after Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump described Harrisburg as a “war zone”.
In addition to Morell, a group of former senior U.S. government officials and military officers, including several who served in top posts under Republican presidents, denounced Trump in a recent letter and called Trump’s recent comments wavering on the strength of the US’s commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military alliance “reckless, dangerous, and extremely unwise”.
On Tuesday, Trump withheld his support for the House Speaker’s primary reelection, saying in an interview with The Washington Post, “I’m just not quite there yet”, words that echoed Ryan’s comments about his own hesitation to endorse Trump as presidential nominee back in May: “I’m just not ready to do that at this point”.
It’s not clear that Ryan is keen to receive Trump’s endorsement.
He told his supporters: “In one way, she’s a monster”. On Friday night, Trump tried hard to make amends as his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, tried to take advantage of his gaffe-filled week. “That is the mark of a true leader”.
Trump’s campaign later released a web video highlighting the controversy over Clinton’s use of a private email server while leading the State Department, writing on Facebook that there is “no doubt” that Clinton “is a pathological liar”.
“I like Paul, but these are disgusting times for our country”.
Trump admitted he needs the support of the entire coalition to win the general election. We need very, very strong leadership.
Trump earlier this week refused to endorse Ryan, telling The Washington Post he was “not quite there yet” – almost the same phrase Ryan had used about Trump before finally endorsing him. On Friday, Priebus announced that he and his wife voted for Ryan. Rob Portman is also running ahead of Trump.
Congressman Ryan spoke before a crowd at Relay for Life in Kenosha.
Ryan told WTMJ’s Charlie Sykes, a Wisconsin talk radio host, on Friday morning that he hadn’t spoken with Trump since the Republican convention ended last month.
“I’m not going to get into any hypotheticals”, he said.
“All my life, I have been told, ‘You have the greatest temperament, ‘” Trump said Friday in Des Moines.
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“So I may have short-circuited, and for that I, you know, will try to clarify”.
