US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has hit back at House Speaker Paul Ryan, the Republican Party’s top elected official, after he said he would not defend Mr Trump nor appear with him for the rest of the campaign.
Mr Ryan told his party in a conference call he is now focused on ensuring Hillary Clinton is not handed a blank cheque as president in a Democratic-controlled Congress - suggesting he does not believe Mr Trump can win the election.
Not conceding
His office moved quickly to say he was not conceding the election. Pro-Trump House members insisted the New York billionaire can still win and should not be abandoned, as repercussions from the release of recordings of Mr Trump making comments on sexual groping continued to take effect.
In comments on Twitter, Mr Trump said Mr Ryan “should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee”.
Several people who were involved with the call said Mr Ryan explicitly told House members: “You all need to do what’s best for you in your district.”
The development came as Mr Trump continued to battle to rescue his campaign after the release last week of a 2005 video in which he is heard bragging about how his fame allowed him to “do anything” to women.
Several leading Republicans have withdrawn their support or called for him to drop out of the race.
Not revoked
Mr Ryan’s message appeared to signal he does not believe in Mr Trump’s ability to turn the campaign around with four weeks until Election Day, though he did not actually revoke his endorsement.
He said his decision was driven by what he thought was best for the Republican-led Congress, not himself, according to people who participated in the call.
Mr Ryan said he will “spend his entire energy making sure that Hillary Clinton does not get a blank cheque with a Democrat-controlled Congress”, according to one source.
Mr Ryan added that he was “willing to endure political pressure to help protect our majority”.
In the eyes of many Republican leaders, the recently released tape of a 2005 conversation in which Mr Trump made vulgar, predatory comments about women not only jeopardised his own labouring candidacy, but that of Republicans fighting to hold their majority in the US Senate.
Their commanding majority in the House of Representatives could now be in peril, too.
Remarks condemned
Nearly half of all 332 incumbent Republican senators, congress members and governors have condemned Mr Trump’s remarks, and roughly 1 in 10 have called on him to drop out of the race, according to a Reuters review of official statements and local news coverage.
But any attempt to replace Trump on the ballot this close to Election Day would face huge legal and logistical hurdles.
A defiant Mr Trump went on the offensive in a vicious presidential debate on Sunday, saying Ms Clinton would go to jail if he were president and attacking her husband, Bill Clinton, for his treatment of women.
The debate, the second of three before the vote, was remarkable for the brutal nature of the exchanges between the two. AP/ Reuters