“I strongly support Paul Ryan, strongly endorse his re-election”, Pence, a longtime congressional colleague of Ryan’s, said in a phone interview with Fox News.
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“I’ve never been there with John McCain because I’ve always felt that he should have done a much better job for the vets”, Trump said.
Indeed, Trump on Wednesday reported raising $80 million in July for his campaign and the Republican Party. The nominee tweeted Wednesday morning: “There is great unity in my campaign, perhaps greater than ever before”.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has been at the forefront of the frustration with Trump over not endorsing Ryan, but sources have also told CNN that members of Trump’s campaign are also frustrated with a candidate who is ceding news cycles to the Democrats.
Pence sought to dampen the flames of controversy somewhat when he spoke to Fox News, saying Trump and Ryan are “building a good relationship”.
Trump’s campaign aides and surrogates also used to make promises about a “pivot”, but seemed to have given up. “If he gave me his endorsement, I’d be flattered by it. The last thing I’d want is for him to screw up the presidential race”, Nehlen said. Both Ryan and McCain have endorsed Trump but have remained critical of many of his comments, including Trump’s ongoing public feud with the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed in 2004. After months of Trump promising to adopt a more presidential tone, Republicans are beginning to lose hope of a pivot for the general election. “He’s irremediable”, said Republican strategist Rick Tyler, who previously worked for Trump adversary Texas Sen. The RealClearPolitics average of recent national polls put her 4.5 percentage points ahead of Trump, at 46.5 percent to 42 percent.
At the end of his remarks, challenger called on all voters, not just Republicans, to support him.
The Clinton campaign has $58 million cash-on-hand, the campaign said. It remains to be seen how ready or willing Trump is to take outside advice. Winning some of those voters could offset expected losses among the white working class voters drawn to Trump’s anti-trade, anti-illegal immigration message, Clinton aides say.
For Republicans, renouncing Trump might not yield much benefit beyond ensuring more headlines connecting them to Trump, something most want to avoid.
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Manafort dismissed reports of a so-called intervention by Priebus, Gingrich and Giuliani. “We are organised. We are moving forward”, Mr Manafort said.
