A month out from Election Day, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump says he doesn’t want or care about getting support from House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, that he wouldn’t want to be in a foxhole with Mr. Ryan, and that Mr. Ryan might end up in a different post if Mr. Trump is elected president.
“The fact is I think we should get support, and we don’t get the support from guys like Paul Ryan,” Mr. Trump said in an interview on Tuesday’s “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News.
He said congressmen “practically rioted” on a conference call earlier this week on which Mr. Ryan reportedly told his GOP House members he no longer planned to defend or campaign for Mr. Trump, though he did not rescind his endorsement of the party’s nominee.
“This happens all the time. If you sneeze, he calls up and announces, ’Isn’t that a terrible thing?’ So look, I don’t want his support, I don’t care about his support,” Mr. Trump said.
“What I want to do is I want to win for the people, because Hillary Clinton — she is a disaster,” he said.
Mr. Trump also associated Mr. Ryan with “open borders,” “amnesty” and “very, very bad budgets.”
“Frankly, the only one Obama negotiates well with is Paul Ryan,” he said.
Mr. Trump also said Sen. John McCain, who renounced his support of Mr. Trump in recent days, was “desperate” and “begging” to get his endorsement ahead of his primary contest in Arizona.
Mr. McCain, Mr. Ryan and other Republicans have criticized Mr. Trump in recent days for a newly-unearthed 2005 video in which Mr. Trump talks about groping women’s genitals and unsuccessfully pursuing a married woman. The GOP nominee has described the comments as “locker room” talk.
“He’s never heard salty language before - you know, John McCain, who has probably the dirtiest mouth in all of the Senate,” Mr. Trump said.
“I wouldn’t want to be in a foxhole with a lot of these people — that I can tell you,” he said. “Including Ryan — especially Ryan.”
Host Bill O’Reilly suggested to Mr. Trump that he would need people like Mr. Ryan and Mr. McCain if he’s elected.
“They’ll be there,” Mr. Trump said. “I would think that Ryan maybe wouldn’t be there. Maybe he’ll be in a different position. But McCain will be there. They’ll all be there.”
A spokesman for Mr. Ryan told The Associated Press Tuesday: “Paul Ryan is focusing the next month on defeating Democrats, & all Republicans running for office should probably do the same.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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