Trump: Paul Ryan Should Face Punishment For Lack Of Support

If any evidence was needed that the Republican party is experiencing a breakdown in structure and loyalty, then look no further than the growing riff between party presidential nominee Donald Trump and top ranking Republican Paul Ryan. During a recent interview, Trump rallied against Ryan and opposed any support from the Republican leader.

“If we had party unity, we couldn’t lose this election to Hillary Clinton,” Trump admitted to Reuters.

“The people are very angry with the leadership of this party, because this is an election that we will win 100 percent if we had support from the top,” he later continued. “I think we’re going to win it anyway.”

Following the October leak of a 2005 video capturing Trump making extremely lewd and graphic comments about women and sexual assault, Ryan, the current Speaker of the House, all but disavowed his support of the party nominee.

“The speaker is going to spend the next month focused entirely on protecting our congressional majorities,” AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan, said in the immediate fallout of the video leak, notes the New York Times.

“There was a time when they [Ryan and Republican leaders] could have spoken out against him,” Jennifer Palmieri, communications director for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. “That time was this summer. Obviously, it is too late now.”

But, despite Ryan’s distance from Trump, the presidential candidate continues to campaign as the de facto leader of the Republican party.

“The fact is, I think we should get support, and we don’t get the support from guys like Paul Ryan,” Trump said in an October interview, reports The Hill. “He had a conference call yesterday with congressmen, with hundreds of them, and they practically rioted against him on the phone. One person stuck up for him. So I’m just tired of nonsupport, and I don’t really want his support.”

Sources: The Hill, Reuters, The New York Times / Photo Credit: Speaker Paul Ryan/Instagram