MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Latest on Wisconsin Republicans’ reactions to Donald Trump (all times local):
4:50 p.m.
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson says he’s sticking with Donald Trump because he can’t imagine Hillary Clinton as president.
Johnson told reporters after a health care round table discussion in Waukesha on Monday that Clinton as president would be “the worst possible thing.”
He says her handling of the attacks in Benghazi, setting up a private email server and other past controversies makes her “completely disqualified from being president.”
Johnson’s Democratic challenger Russ Feingold has called on Johnson to pull his support for Trump. But Johnson says the real question is why Feingold continues to back Clinton.
Johnson says he intends to vote for Trump but he can’t say whether he’d campaign with him because that’s a hypothetical question.
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3:50 p.m.
Wisconsin Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner says Donald Trump isn’t perfect, “but Hillary Clinton is a bet America cannot afford to make.”
Sensenbrenner issued a statement Monday reiterating his support for Trump. He joins other prominent Wisconsin Republicans in holding firm on Trump, even as House Speaker Paul Ryan says he will not defend or campaign with him.
Sensenbrenner says, “Now is not the time to make perfect the enemy of the good.” He says, a Clinton presidency “would have a devastating and far-reaching impact on the future of our country.”
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3:30 p.m.
Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy says he endorsed Donald Trump because of his policies not “because of his stance on women or his family values.”
Duffy said in a statement Monday that he’s standing by Trump even after crude comments he made about women came to light on Friday. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Monday he won’t defend Trump or campaign with him.
Duffy has been one of Trump’s most vocal supporters in Wisconsin. His northern Wisconsin congressional district is the only one Trump won in the Wisconsin primary.
Duffy says in a statement that Trump’s recent comments are “reprehensible.” But Duffy says he endorsed Trump because of his policies and “four years of Hillary Clinton would be unacceptable.”
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3:15 p.m.
Most prominent Wisconsin Republicans are keeping quiet on Donald Trump, even after House Speaker Paul Ryan said he would no longer defend or campaign for him.
Gov. Scott Walker has no public events Monday and hasn’t posted anything on Twitter since he noted a Green Bay Packers touchdown on Sunday night.
State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos aren’t returning messages.
Republican Mike Gallagher is running for the open 8th Congressional District seat but his spokesman isn’t returning messages.
Republican members of Congress are also not talking. Except for Rep. Glenn Grothman who is standing by Trump. He told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he doesn’t want four more years of open borders, over-regulation of industry and spiraling welfare rolls.
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11:25 a.m.
Speaker Paul Ryan is not un-endorsing Donald Trump. And his office says he’s not conceding that Hillary Clinton will be the next president.
Ryan told Republican lawmakers in a conference call that he will spend “his entire energy making sure that Hillary Clinton does not get a blank check with a Democrat-controlled Congress.”
Several pro-Trump lawmakers interpreted that as a defeatist attitude. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the conversation was private.
Ryan said on the call that he does not plan to defend the Republican nominee or campaign for him over the next 30 days.
He said the Republicans’ House majority is in peril.
-By Erica Werner in Washington
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10:45 a.m.
House Speaker Paul Ryan is all but conceding Hillary Clinton will be the next president.
In a conference call Monday morning with House Republicans Ryan tells them that he will not defend Donald Trump or campaign with him for the next 30 days.
Instead he says he will spend “his entire energy making sure that Hillary Clinton does not get a blank check with a Democrat-controlled Congress.”
That’s according to a person on the call who demanded anonymity to describe the private conversation.
-By Erica Werner in Washington
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10:35 a.m.
Speaker Paul Ryan is telling congressional Republicans that he won’t defend Donald Trump now or in the future and will spend the next month defending his party’s House majority.
The Wisconsin Republican is holding a conference call with GOP lawmakers. Many of them are worried that their party’s presidential candidate is hurting their chances of winning re-election and is threatening their majority control of the House.
One person involved in the call says Ryan has not withdrawn his support for Trump, but has said he won’t defend him, either. Instead, he’ll campaign for GOP congressional candidates.
Another says Ryan has told lawmakers that he won’t campaign with Trump. And he is advising GOP candidates “to do what’s best for you in your district.”
-By Alan Fram in Washington
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9:40 a.m.
Incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson is standing by Donald Trump, echoing attacks the presidential nominee is making against his opponent Hillary Clinton.
Johnson on Monday was asked in an interview on WLIP-AM in Kenosha to respond to comments from the campaign of his opponent Russ Feingold about how Johnson could continue to support Trump. Many Republican office holders have dropped their support and called for Trump to exit the race after vulgar comments he made about women in 2005 surfaced Friday.
Johnson says he would ask Feingold how he could continue to support Clinton, saying that her “dereliction of duty” cost four American lives in Benghazi and her use of a private email server put national security at risk.
Trump made similar attacks in Sunday’s presidential debate.
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8:50 a.m.
Wisconsin’s top Republicans who support Donald Trump are quiet after a turbulent weekend for the presidential nominee.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Gov. Scott Walker all were silent during and after Sunday night’s second presidential debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton. Walker tweeted about the Green Bay Packers game, but not the debate.
A statement put out by Trump’s Wisconsin campaign offering comment from “leaders” had reaction from only one elected official. And that was the village president of Thiensville.
Walker and Johnson also avoided talking about Trump at a Republican rally on Saturday. Ryan referenced vulgar comments Trump had made that came to light Friday, calling it a “troubling situation.”
That led to heckling from some Trump supporters in the crowd.
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