Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump formally endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan for reelection on Friday night, after refusing to do so just days ago.
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Neither Ryan nor Wisconsin’s Republican governor, Scott Walker, showed up for Trump’s Green Bay event.
He said: “I support and endorse our Speaker of the House Paul Ryan”.
Trump’s second trip to Iowa is as many weeks came amid reports that his GOP allies have been urging him refocus his campaign message on Clinton after a week of dropping opinion poll numbers, a public spat with the parents of a USA soldier killed in Iraq and disagreements with some fellow Republicans.
However, Ryan’s spokesman Zack Roday denied they had sought Trump’s endorsement. The site puts the Democratic Party’s nominee’s odds of winning at 77% to the Republicans’ 23%.
“I like Paul, but these are terrible times for our country”, Trump told the Washington Post on Tuesday.
Trump also tried to mend relations with two Republican senators whom he’d criticized after they faulted him for attacking the Khans: John McCain of Arizona and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire.
Despite Nehlen’s constant praise of Trump’s policies, just 16 percent said they had a favorable opinion of the candidate while 47 percent had an unfavorable outlook despite Trump receiving a 52 percent favorability rating.
Mr Trump’s endorsement emerged as he took other steps to get his campaign back on track after days of controversy and falling poll numbers that have given Democrat Hillary Clinton the advantage in the race to the November 8 election.
The remarks threatened to further splinter Trump’s relationship with the party and infuriated many officials, including Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee.
House Speaker Paul Ryan says his opponent in Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary is backed by out-of-state interests peddling a “nasty virulent strain of something” that’s not conservatism.
Paul Ryan, whose primary for his House seat is next week, has chided Trump for engaging in a flap with the family of a dead Muslim U.S. soldier.
Vos said “we are Ryan Republicans here in Wisconsin, not Trump Republicans”.
He also endorsed two key Senate Republicans. “Donald Trump and I both said that Captain Khan is an American hero and his family, like every Gold Star family, should be cherished, and by every American”.
The potential switch to a Ryan endorsement didn’t please Ron and Michelle Lovelien, small business owners who drove three hours from Eau Claire to Green Bay to see Trump Friday.
“We call on our party’s elected leaders to renounce their support of Trump, and urge our fellow College Republicans to join us in condemning and withholding their endorsement from this unsafe man”.
“I may have short circuited and for that I will try to clarify”, she told a group of minority journalists in Washington, though still insisting that she “never sent or received anything that was marked classified”.
Mr Ryan is the highest-ranking elected Republican. He goes on to say he doesn’t trust Hillary Clinton either.
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“Not Donald Trump”, it turns out, may be enough of a platform to win.
