Fury at top of Republican Party over Trump

WASHINGTON/JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) – Donald Trump’s White House campaign was in turmoil on Wednesday after he angered senior Republican Party leaders by criticizing a dead soldier’s family and refusing to back the reelection campaign of House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan.

On Tuesday, Trump denied support to both Ryan and Sen. John McCain in their coming primary contests, hitting back at critics in the Republican leadership who have taken him to task for his insistent public dispute with the parents of the soldier, a Muslim US Army captain killed in the Iraq war.

Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus was furious over the failure to endorse Ryan, who is the most senior elected Republican, and over Trump’s feud with the Khan family, two Republican sources said.

“He feels like a fool,” a Republican source familiar with the situation said of Priebus.

The RNC did not respond to a request for comment about Priebus.

Trump has had a running dispute with the parents of Capt. Humayun Khan since they took the stage at last week’s Democratic National Convention. Khizr Khan, with his wife, Ghazala, standing by his side, cited the sacrifice of their son, who was killed by a car bomb in 2004, and criticized Trump’s proposal to combat terrorism by temporarily banning Muslims from entering the United States.

Many Republican leaders, including Ryan and McCain, have criticized Trump’s subsequent attacks on the parents. Even longtime ally Chris Christie, the Republican New Jersey governor, said it was inappropriate to attack the Khans.

Trump’s feud with the Khans was the final straw for Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger, a former Air Force pilot and Iraqi war veteran. Kinzinger, who had held off supporting Trump, told CNN on Wednesday: “I just don’t see how I get to Donald Trump anymore.”

Trump’s always unruly campaign has been mired in disorder in recent days. On Monday, Trump fired Ed Brookover, a senior adviser hired as a liaison between the campaign and the RNC.

A Republican congressional aide said there was deep frustration on Capitol Hill that Trump keeps engaging in “petty spats.” The aide said congressional offices that support Trump got two sets of talking points on Monday from the campaign about the Khan situation but have not heard anything from the campaign about Trump’s Ryan comments.