Trump slams 'disloyal' Republicans after party largely abandoned him
In series of tweets, the Republican presidential nominee says Republicans who distances themselves from him following lewd comments about women 'don't know how to win'; Obama says remarks would disqualify Trump from any job: 'the guy says stuff that nobody would find tolerable if they were applying for a job at 7-Eleven.'
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been on the defensive since a 2005 Access Hollywood video surfaced on Friday showing him bragging crudely to a reporter about groping women and making unwanted sexual advances, leading a string of Republican officials and officeholders to distance themselves from him.
On Tuesday, Trump lashed out at US House Speaker Paul Ryan and other "disloyal" Republicans, vowing to campaign in whatever style he wants now that the party establishment has largely abandoned him.
Trump, in a barrage of stinging Twitter posts, condemned the Republicans who have backed away from his White House run, deepening a dramatic rift in the party over his struggling campaign for the Nov. 8 election.
"It is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to," Trump said on Twitter, adding he would engage Democratic rival Hillary Clinton on his own terms.
Describing "disloyal" Republicans as more difficult than Clinton, he said: "They come at you from all sides. They don't know how to win - I will teach them!"
Despite the turn away from Trump by some elected Republicans, a Reuters/Ipsos poll of likely voters, released on Tuesday, found 58 percent of Republicans wanted Trump to stay atop their party's ticket and 68 percent said the Republican leadership should stand by him.
The poll, which was conducted after the second presidential debate on Sunday, showed Clinton's lead over Trump widening to 8 points from 5 points last week, before the release of the video.
Ryan, the top Republican in Congress, told party lawmakers on Monday he was breaking with Trump and would not campaign for him, all but conceding Clinton would win the presidency. The move angered some Trump supporters, although Ryan said he would not withdraw his endorsement of the New York businessman.
Trump slammed Ryan as a "very weak and ineffective leader" and complained in another tweet that it was hard to do well with "zero support" from Ryan and others. He later said in an interview with Fox News host Bill O'Reilly he neither wanted nor needed Ryan's support.
Ryan's spokesman, Brendan Buck, said on Tuesday that the speaker "is focusing the next month on defeating Democrats, and all Republicans running for office should probably do the same."
Trump also took aim at US Senator John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, who said on Saturday that he could not vote for Trump.
"The very foul mouthed Sen. John McCain begged for my support during his primary (I gave, he won), then dropped me over locker room remarks," Trump said. There was no immediate reaction from McCain, who secured his primary election win in August.
Many Republicans worry that Trump's chaotic campaign could hurt their chances of holding majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate in next month's election, and will inflict long-term damage on the party.
In an extraordinary party revolt, nearly half of all 331 incumbent Republican senators, House members and governors have condemned Trump's lewd remarks on the video, and roughly one in 10 has called for him to drop out of the race, a Reuters review of official statements and local news coverage indicates.
Unlike Ryan, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus told RNC members on Monday that the committee, the party's leadership and fundraising arm, still backed Trump, two RNC members told Reuters.
Trump's vice presidential running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, also reinforced his support in television interviews on Monday.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a former 2016 Republican presidential contender who has became a close ally of Trump, also reaffirmed his backing, although he called Trump's comments in the 2005 video "completely indefensible."
Trump, 70, who has portrayed himself as tough on national security, released a hard-hitting television advertisement on Tuesday featuring footage of Clinton, a 68-year-old former secretary of state, stumbling last month after leaving a service commemorating the Sept. 11 attacks. Her campaign said she had been diagnosed a few days earlier with pneumonia.
"Hillary Clinton doesn't have the fortitude, strength or stamina to lead in our world," the ad's narrator says. "She failed as secretary of state. Don't let her fail us again."
Obama slams Trump over lewd comments
US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that Trump's comments about groping women would disqualify him from even a job at a convenience store.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Obama said the choice was clear in the Nov. 8 election even before the tape was leaked last week showing Trump speaking crudely about women.
"Now you find a situation in which the guy says stuff that nobody would find tolerable if they were applying for a job at 7-Eleven," Obama told the crowd, referring to the convenience store chain.
Trump said during Sunday night's presidential debate he was embarrassed by the video, but dismissed it as "locker room talk."
Obama also criticized some Republicans who have condemned the remarks but are still backing the New York businessman.
"The fact that now you've got people saying: 'We strongly disagree, we really disapprove ... but we're still endorsing him.' They still think he should be president, that doesn't make sense to me," Obama said.
Earlier on Tuesday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the remarks in the recording amounted to sexual assault.
Obama also took aim at Trump's business credentials, referring to a New York Times report that showed he claimed a nearly billion dollar loss in one year on his taxes in the 1990s.
"They say the house always wins," Obama quipped about Trump, who was a casino developer at the time. "I don't know how that happens."
