In an unprecedented move that highlighted the extreme disunity in the Republican Party, Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he was “not quite” ready to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan, the highest-ranking elected GOP official in the country.
“I like Paul, but these are horrible times for our country,” Trump said in an interview with The Washington Post. “We need very strong leadership. We need very, very strong leadership. And I’m just not quite there yet. I’m not quite there yet.”
The phrasing used by Trump was similar to what Ryan said when he initially declined to endorse the Manhattan billionaire shortly after Trump secured the GOP nomination in May. At the time, Ryan told CNN that he was “just not ready to [endorse] at this point.”
“I’m not there right now,” he told CNN host Jake Tapper.
Ryan would endorse Trump in June.
The move came just one day after offering praise to Ryan’s primary opponent, Paul Nehlen.
Trump thanked Nehlen on Monday night for defending him in a controversy regarding Trump’s criticism aimed at a Gold Star family.
The Wisconsin primary is next Tuesday.
Trump told The Post that Nehlen, who has been reliably pro-Trump, was running “a very good campaign” and added that Ryan sought his endorsement. He said that he was giving Ryan “very serious consideration.”
The Wisconsin Republican’s campaign responded Tuesday evening, saying that Ryan never asked Trump for an endorsement.
“Neither Speaker Ryan nor anyone on his team has ever asked for Donald Trump’s endorsement,” Zack Roday, a Ryan campaign spokesman, said in a statement. “And we are confident in a victory next week regardless.”
Ryan gave a speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland as a sign of party unity between the two leaders.
Ryan’s “opponent is a big fan of what I’m saying — big fan,” Trump told The Post. “His opponent, who’s running a very good campaign, obviously, I’ve heard — his opponent sent me a very scholarly and well thought out letter yesterday and all I did was say thank you very much for your very nice letter. You saw my statement.”
Trump also told The Post that he would not be supporting Sen. John McCain of Arizona, while he slammed Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire. Both released blistering rebukes of his comments on Ghazala and Khizr Khan, the Gold Star parents who slammed the New York businessman at the Democratic National Convention. Yet neither retracted prior statements that they’d be voting for Trump in the fall.
“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 when asked about the Arizona senator’s rebuke of his comments about the Khans.
Trump added: “He has not done a good job for the vets and I’ve always felt that he should have done a much better job for the vets. So I’ve always had a difficult time with John for that reason, because our vets are not being treated properly. They’re not being treated fairly.”
McCain is locked in a primary battle against two other opponents. The primary will take place on August 30.
On Ayotte, Trump said he’s “beating her in the polls by a lot” even though the two are not facing off against each other.
“New Hampshire is one of my favorite places,” Trump said. “You have a Kelly Ayotte who doesn’t want to talk about Trump, but I’m beating her in the polls by a lot. You tell me. Are these people that should be representing us, okay? You tell me.”
He added: “I don’t know Kelly Ayotte. I know she’s given me no support — zero support — and yet I’m leading her in the polls. I’m doing very well in New Hampshire. We need loyal people in this country. We need fighters in this country. We don’t need weak people. We have enough of them. We need fighters in this country. But Kelly Ayotte has given me zero support, and I’m doing great in New Hampshire.”
Ayotte responded on Twitter Tuesday evening.
“I call it like I see it and I’m always going to stand up for our military families and what’s best for the people of New Hampshire,” she posted.
Business Insider reached out to representatives for Ryan, McCain, Ayotte, and Nehlen, but they did not immediately respond.
As reported by Business Insider