Trump Fires Back at Paul Ryan After He All But Concedes That Clinton Will Be President

Donald Trump fired back at Paul Ryan on Twitter after Ryan all but conceded that Hillary Clinton would be president.

Paul Ryan
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Paul Ryan

Among the people that are absolutely done with Donald Trump is one of the most powerful Republicans in Washington: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Ryan was reluctant to endorse Trump to begin with, and while he has not withdrawn his official endorsement, he reportedly told House Republicans on Monday that he's done campaigning on behalf of the GOP candidate for president and all but conceded that Clinton will win the election. 

Following the release of a disturbing 2005 video where Donald Trump can be heard bragging about sexual assault with (now suspended) Today Show host Billy Bush, Ryan uninvited Trump from a rally at his Wisconsin home, and called the comments "sickening," and that "Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified. I hope Mr. Trump treats this situation with the seriousness it deserves and works to demonstrate to the country that he has greater respect for women than this clip suggests," according to the Washington Post, who broke the story on the video.

The Associated Press reports that Ryan had a call with House Republicans on Monday morning, where he informed them that he would no longer defend Trump, nor campaign for him for the days remaining before the election on Nov. 8. The anonymous source who was on the call told the Associated Press that Ryan's current plan is to use "his entire energy making sure that Hillary Clinton does not get a blank check with a Democrat-controlled Congress."

Sources also told the AP that Ryan will campaign for Republicans in the House, many of whom are worried that Trump is hurting the party overall and possibly damaging their campaigns. The AP reports that another source states that Ryan advised his House members "to do what's best for you in your district" regarding Trump.

Trump's Senior Communications Advisor, Jason Miller, brushed off the news in a tweet on Monday, writing that "nothing has changed" for the Trump campaign:

Trump himself tweeted about the news on Monday afternoon, saying Ryan was "wasting his time" by "fighting" Trump:

Trump tweeted Saturday that there was no chance he'd be dropping out of the presidential race. "Will never drop out of the race," he said. "Will never never let my supporters down!"

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