Donald Trump on Friday offered an olive branch to the Republican Party, endorsing the three Republican lawmakers – House Speaker Paul Ryan, Arizona Sen.
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“So in our shared mission, to make America great again, I support and endorse our speaker of the House, Paul Ryan”, Trump said on Friday night.
Ryan, the top US elected Republican, had no plans to attend the Wisconsin event, a sign of lingering frictions between the pair, even though Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, did endorse him.
Trump’s endorsement of the speaker should ease some of the tension generated by his refusal earlier this week to endorse Ryan when he told The Washington Post he was “not quite there yet” – using the same phrase Ryan had used about Trump before finally endorsing him.
Clinton said, “Director Comey said my answers were truthful and what I’ve said is consistent with what I told the American people.’ The Washington Post assigned that statement ‘four Pinocchios” and Politifact gave it its worst rating – trousers on fire. “We need very strong leadership”, Trump had said. “We need very, very strong leadership”, he said.
“I may have short-circuited, and for that I will try to clarify”, Mrs Clinton said, though still insisting she “never sent or received anything that was marked classified”. Kelly Ayotte, Trump endorsed them all Friday, acknowledging the obvious: that as president he would need GOP allies in Congress.
Ryan reiterated his support for Trump hours before the endorsement, but the Wisconsin Republican noted his support wasn’t a “blank check” and pledged to speak out against the businessman’s divisive positions if necessary.
At events in Des Moines, Iowa, and Green Bay, Trump showed discipline that is unusual at his often free-wheeling rallies, calling Clinton the “queen of corruption” and defending himself against her charge that he is temperamentally unfit for the White House.
Paul Ryan, like other top Wisconsin Republicans, did not attend Mr Trump’s evening appearance in their state.
Everybody and I mean everybody has an opinion but I want to start my picks of the week with solid stuff for you.
Trump also said earlier this week that he had “never been a big fan of John McCain”. Even New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie-one of Trump’s main establishment supporters-recently called Trump’s ongoing feud with the family of fallen Army Captain Humayun Khan “inappropriate”.
“This is not the U.S. Constitution”, said Ryan.
Mr Nehlen said Mr Trump’s decision “is appropriate and is a display of true leadership”.
“The legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, chaos and weakness”, Trump said. Portland resident and immigrant organizer Pious Ali says “an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us as a community”. “I’m not quite there yet”, Trump said at the time.
But the next day, Pence announced that he was backing Ryan – telling Fox News that “he’s a longtime friend”. Ryan is expected to win, but Nehlen has tried to make an issue of what he calls Ryan’s “repeated betrayal” of his party’s presidential nominee.
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Ryan, who withheld his own endorsement of Trump for weeks after Trump had clinched the party’s nomination, deflected Sykes’ questions about whether he might withdraw that support. “Honestly the endorsement, personally the ones that I care about are the ones from the people here in Wisconsin, my first congressional district employers”.
