The GOP's 24-hour meltdown
Trump's promise to unify the Republican Party is in tatters, as an all-out civil war grips the GOP.
By Nolan D. McCaskill 05/06/16 07:07 PM EDT
politico.com
Donald Trump on Tuesday night assumed the mantle of presumptive nominee and declared: “We want to bring unity to the Republican Party. We have to bring unity.”Three days later, the GOP is tearing itself apart.
Friday brought another day of incredible division and revolt with Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham falling in line not behind Trump, but behind House Speaker Paul Ryan, who said a day earlier that he cannot yet support the brash real estate mogul as his party’s standard-bearer.
Trump, instead of trying to make peace, lashed out.
He fired off a vicious statement, calling Graham an “embarrassment” with “zero credibility.”
Then he laced into both of his former rivals during his rally in Omaha, Nebraska, where he is continuing to campaign ahead of Tuesday’s primary, despite having vanquished the rest of the GOP field.
“But I won’t talk about Jeb Bush. I will not say — I will not say he’s low energy. I will not say it,” Trump told a boisterous crowd who booed at the mention of his critics. “I will not say it. And I won’t talk about Lindsey Graham, who had like 1 point, you ever see this guy on television? He is nasty. … He leaves a disgrace, he can’t represent the people of South Carolina well.”
Trump also alternated on Friday between shrugging off Ryan’s bombshell announcement and scorching him.
During a phone interview with Fox News, Trump said he was “very, very surprised” at Ryan’s comments. “It’s hard to believe,” he said, adding, “It doesn’t bother me at all.”
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