Donald Trump is now refusing to endorse Paul Ryan: 'I'm not quite there yet'
Sometimes, when you shout into the void, the void shouts back.
Back in May, House Speaker Paul Ryan publicly waffled on endorsing his party's then-presumptive nominee for president, Donald Trump. "I'm just not ready to do that at this point," Ryan said. "I'm not there right now." Ryan eventually endorsed Trump in June, though the two men have disagreed mightily in the months since.
So, naturally, in an interview Tuesday with The Washington Post, Trump refused to endorse Ryan in his Wisconsin primary election. "I'm not quite there yet," Trump told the Post, echoing Ryan's comments this spring. "I like Paul, but these are horrible times for our country."
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Also in the interview, Trump said he would not be supporting Arizona Sen. John McCain's re-election bid this fall, despite the fact that McCain endorsed him in May. The slight likely stems from McCain's lengthy statement Monday slamming Trump's comments regarding Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of a Muslim-American soldier who died while serving in Iraq.
Ryan's primary election takes place next Tuesday, and the incumbent has long led the race for his seat. Still, as the Post notes, "Trump's refusal to back Ryan represents an extraordinary breach of political decorum." Read more on the Machiavellian tactics at The Washington Post.
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Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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