Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence isn’t addressing GOP tensions after running mate Donald Trump refused to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan or Arizona Sen.
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Priebus, who was said by the source to be incredibly upset with Trump’s behavior, had expressed his disappointment and frustration to several leading members of Trump’s entourage, the source said.
The outgoing president, whose term runs out this year, also slammed Trump’s Republican backers who continue to support him despite acknowledging his behaviour as unacceptable. All three have primary challengers, and all three disapproved of Trump’s criticism of the Muslim American parents of an Army captain killed in Iraq.
McCain had been particularly incensed over Trump’s insults against the parents of U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, chiding Trump’s decision to “defame those who are the best among us”.
“The Republican nominee is unfit to serve as president”, Obama said at a White House news conference with the Prime Minister of Singapore.
“There has to come a point in which you say “enough”, he said, in a comment directed at Republicans. Obama said there has to be a point when people break with the party’s standard-bearer. “I said nice things about the son and I feel that very strongly but of course I was hit very hard from the stage and you know it’s just one of those things but no I don’t regret anything”, he said. They also came on a day that saw the first sitting Republican member of Congress express support for Clinton as well as the top adviser to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the former top aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Obama described his feelings about Trump as unprecedented, recalling disagreements with previous GOP presidential nominees Sen. Trump stoked outrage by implying Ghazala Khan did not speak while standing alongside her husband at last week’s Democratic convention because she is a Muslim woman. Trump later lashed out at the media’s coverage of the controversy.
Calling Clinton a politician with “bedrock national values” and a “far better choice in 2016 for President of the United States”, the CEO decried Trump, a man whose medium-sized fingers are actually ossified jumbo cocktail shrimp, as a potentially lethal alternative.
Trump’s son Eric told CBS News yesterday that his father’s comments about the Khans have been “blown hugely out of proportion”. He and first lady Michelle Obama spoke at last week’s Democratic convention in Philadelphia.
“The problem with Paul Ryan is his constant knee-jerk reactions to anything controversial Donald Trump might say without completely understanding the issue”, Nehlen’s campaign wrote on Monday.
The campaign “just finished up our strongest month of fundraising to date, we’re adding talented and experienced staffers on a daily basis and Mr. Trump’s turning out bigger, more enthusiastic crowds than Hillary Clinton ever could”.
Trump swiftly responded by posting a statement on his official Facebook page.
Trump’s comments about the Khans and Purple Heart have refocused attention on his having avoided fighting in Vietnam by receiving five deferments, including one for bone spurs in his foot.
Nevertheless, a number of high-ranking Republicans, including sitting Congressman Richard Hanna, have publicly stated plans to not only not support Trump, but to actively support Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
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Donald Trump shakes hands and signs autographs with his supporters after speaking at a campaign rally at the Greater Columbus Convention Center on November 23, 2015 in Columbus, Ohio.
