Washington
“If we go forward pretending that we’re unified, then we are going to be at half-strength this fall,” Ryan told The Journal Times in Racine, Wisconsin, defending his stunning decision last week to refuse to endorse his party’s presumptive presidential nominee.
Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, one of the most endangered Senate Republicans, wrote an opinion piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer drawing back from his long-stated intent to back the GOP nominee.
“His vulgarity, particularly toward women, is appalling. His lack of appreciation for constitutional limits on executive powers is deeply concerning. … In short, I find his candidacy highly problematic,” Toomey wrote of Trump. “There could come a point at which the differences are so great as to be irreconcilable.”
Toomey appeared to be the only Senate Republican running for re-election to publicly step back from plans to vote for Trump. However, other backing has come with little enthusiasm as senators have announced in the same breath plans to skip the July convention in Cleveland.
Party leaders fear Trump’s candidacy could cost Republicans control of the Senate. Even in the House, where Republicans command the largest majority in decades and are unlikely to lose control, vulnerable members are visibly nervous.
Several newly elected lawmakers who could face difficulty in November, including Martha McSally, of Arizona, Will Hurd, of Texas, and Barbara Comstock of Virginia, have told local publications they are not ready to back Trump.
Another Republican in a closely divided district, Rep. Charlie Dent, of Pennsylvania, said in an interview that he and others were finding it difficult to support Trump given his history of incendiary comments and his own uncertain record as a Republican, including donations to many Democrats, Clinton among them.
“When you’re a candidate running for office you don’t like to be in a position where you have to put distance between yourself and someone in your own party,” Dent said. “But in this case you’re compelled to do it because of the nature of these inflammatory statements.”
Trump’s tendency to shift stances on policy issues, which has troubled conservatives while handing ammunition to Democrats, arose anew Monday as he defended a weekend suggestion that his tax plan could be negotiable. Clinton aides pounced on the issue in a conference call while Trump defended himself, saying, “This is a negotiation.”
Ever confident, Trump announced that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former foe but now an enthusiastic supporter, would head his transition team as he heads for the White House after the election.
Another former opponent, Sen. Marco Rubio, of Florida, who’s been mentioned by Trump as a potential vice presidential pick, issued a statement saying he wasn’t interested because Trump “will be best served by a running mate and by surrogates who fully embrace his campaign.”