Trump assails House speaker Ryan, McCain
as 'disloyal'
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[October 12, 2016]
By John Whitesides and Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican
presidential nominee Donald Trump lashed out at U.S. House Speaker Paul
Ryan and other "disloyal" Republicans on Tuesday and vowed to campaign
in whatever style he wants now that the party establishment has largely
abandoned him.
Trump, in a barrage of stinging Twitter posts, condemned the Republicans
who have backed away from his White House run, deepening a dramatic rift
in the party over his struggling campaign for the Nov. 8 election.
"It is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and I can now
fight for America the way I want to," Trump said on Twitter, adding he
would engage Democratic rival Hillary Clinton on his own terms.
Describing "disloyal" Republicans as more difficult than Clinton, he
said: "They come at you from all sides. They don't know how to win - I
will teach them!"
A string of Republican officials and officeholders have distanced
themselves from Trump since a 2005 video surfaced on Friday showing him
bragging crudely to a reporter about groping women and making unwanted
sexual advances.
Despite the turn away from Trump by some elected Republicans, a
Reuters/Ipsos poll of likely voters, released on Tuesday, found 58
percent of Republicans wanted Trump to stay atop their party's ticket
and 68 percent said the Republican leadership should stand by him.
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The poll, which was conducted after the second presidential debate on
Sunday, showed Clinton's lead over Trump widening to 8 points from 5
points last week, before the release of the video.
Ryan, the top Republican in Congress, told party lawmakers on Monday he
was breaking with Trump and would not campaign for him, all but
conceding Clinton would win the presidency. The move angered some Trump
supporters, although Ryan said he would not withdraw his endorsement of
the New York businessman.
Trump slammed Ryan as a "very weak and ineffective leader" and
complained in another tweet that it was hard to do well with "zero
support" from Ryan and others. He later said in an interview with Fox
News host Bill O'Reilly he neither wanted nor needed Ryan's support.
Ryan's spokesman, Brendan Buck, said on Tuesday that the speaker "is
focusing the next month on defeating Democrats, and all Republicans
running for office should probably do the same."
Trump also took aim at U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona, the 2008
Republican presidential nominee, who said on Saturday that he could not
vote for Trump.
"The very foul mouthed Sen. John McCain begged for my support during his
primary (I gave, he won), then dropped me over locker room remarks,"
Trump said. There was no immediate reaction from McCain, who secured his
primary election win in August.
Many Republicans worry that Trump's chaotic campaign could hurt their
chances of holding majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate
in next month's election, and will inflict long-term damage on the
party.
PARTY REVOLT
In an extraordinary party revolt, nearly half of all 331 incumbent
Republican senators, House members and governors have condemned Trump's
lewd remarks on the video, and roughly one in 10 has called for him to
drop out of the race, a Reuters review of official statements and local
news coverage indicates.
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Supporters of Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump
reacts at a campaign rally in Panama City, Florida, U.S., October
11, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar
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Unlike Ryan, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus
told RNC members on Monday that the committee, the party's
leadership and fundraising arm, still backed Trump, two RNC members
told Reuters.
Trump's vice presidential running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence,
also reinforced his support in television interviews on Monday.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a former 2016 Republican
presidential contender who has became a close ally of Trump, also
reaffirmed his backing, although he called Trump's comments in the
2005 video "completely indefensible."
Trump, 70, who has portrayed himself as tough on national security,
released a hard-hitting television advertisement on Tuesday
featuring footage of Clinton, a 68-year-old former secretary of
state, stumbling last month after leaving a service commemorating
the Sept. 11 attacks. Her campaign said she had been diagnosed a few
days earlier with pneumonia.
"Hillary Clinton doesn't have the fortitude, strength or stamina to
lead in our world," the ad's narrator says. "She failed as secretary
of state. Don't let her fail us again."
'INSULTED EVERYONE'
Both Trump and Clinton headed to the key battleground state of
Florida on Tuesday.
Before her Florida rally with former Vice President Al Gore, Clinton
told a Miami radio station that Trump had "insulted everyone."
"People need to understand what's at stake in this election," she
told WMBM.
The White House said on Tuesday that Trump's remarks about groping
women in the video amounted to sexual assault. President Barack
Obama said Trump's remarks would disqualify him from a job at a
convenience store, and should disqualify him from becoming
president.
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Clinton, the first woman to be picked as a presidential nominee by a
major U.S. party, tried to focus on Tuesday on issues that could win
over undecided women voters, proposing to expand the child tax
credit so that more low-income families can benefit and to increase
by $1,000 a year the tax credit available to families for each child
up to age 4.
(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Ayesha Rascoe and Chris Kahn;
Writing by Emily Flitter in New York; Editing by Frances Kerry and
Peter Cooney)
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