Donald Trump hit back at House Speaker Paul Ryan on Monday, just hours after the Wisconsin Republican advised his congressional colleagues to "do what's best" for them in their districts and said he would no longer defend the GOP presidential nominee.
"Paul Ryan should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting the Republican nominee," Trump tweeted to his 12 million followers.
Ryan and Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, who chairs the National Congressional Campaign Committee, co-hosted a conference with a record number of GOP lawmakers Monday morning to "touch base with members about the current landscape" of the 2016 campaign,sources told the Washington Examiner ahead of the call.
According to those involved in the discussion, Ryan encouraged House Republicans to do what they think is best in terms of choosing to support or distance themselves from Trump in their own districts, but didn't revoke his own endorsement of the GOP presidential nominee. Several Republican lawmakers retracted their support and urged their party's nominee to withdraw from the race in the wake of a leaked audio tape showing him making lewd and sexually explicit comments about a married woman.
Trump apologized for his controversial comments in a late-night video last Friday and again during the second presidential debate on Sunday evening. "I was embarrassed by it, but I have tremendous respect for women," he told undecided voters at the town hall-style debate.
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05.01.2024