Top US Republican Ryan distances himself from Trump
In second debate, GOP candidate threatens to jail opponent
WASHINGTON/ST. LOUIS (Reuters) – The leader of the US House of Representatives distanced himself from Donald Trump on Monday as the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign sank deeper into crisis over his sexually aggressive remarks about women.
House Speaker Paul Ryan told an emergency meeting of fellow Republican lawmakers that he would neither defend Trump nor campaign with him in the coming 30 days, the time remaining to the November 8 presidential and congressional elections, but would focus on protecting Republican majorities in Congress.
His comments were made during a conference call by Republicans in the US Congress, a source familiar with the call said. The call was arranged to work out how to handle the fallout from a video that surfaced on Friday showing the Republican nominee making lewd comments about women in 2005.
Ryan said he would spend the remainder of the election campaign making sure that if Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wins in November she does not get a “blank check” in the form of Democrat-controlled Congress, the source said. Republicans currently control both the House and Senate.
A defiant Trump went on the offensive in a vicious presidential debate on Sunday, saying 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.
The New York businessman called Clinton a “devil” who repeatedly lies; someone with tremendous hate in her heart. The former secretary of state called Trump an abuser of women who is unfit for the White House.
There was a palpable sense of mutual contempt as they stood on stage, refusing to shake hands at the start. Moderators Anderson Cooper of CNN and Martha Raddatz of ABC both seemed at points to be grimly watching two trains collide.
Through it all, Trump, 70, and Clinton, 68, both landed punches as they clashed over taxes, health care, US policy in the Syrian civil war and Clinton’s comments that half of Trump’s supporters belonged in a “basket of deplorables.”
Trump again described the 2005 comments as “locker-room talk” and said he had never kissed or groped women without their permission, despite having bragged about doing so on the video.
President Bill Clinton had done worse to women, Trump said in one of several forceful attacks that may reinforce his popularity with his core supporters who detest the Democratic nominee.
Hillary Clinton responded that Trump’s comments showed he is unfit for the White House.
“He has said the video doesn’t represent who he is, but I think it’s clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is,” she said.
Clinton accused Trump of dodging a discussion of policy issues to avoid talking about his campaign because of “the way yours is exploding and Republicans are leaving you.”
Early in the 90-minute debate, Trump said he would appoint a special prosecutor to look into Clinton’s operation of a private email server during her tenure as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state from 2009-2013.
Clinton said: “You know it’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in this country.” Trump shot back: “Because you’d be in jail.”
A CNN/ORC snap poll of debate watchers found that 57% thought Clinton won the encounter, versus 34% for Trump. US stock futures and the Mexican peso jumped as markets saw less chance of a Trump victory.
Asked at the end to name one thing each admired about the other, Clinton said she respected his children for their ability and devotion to Trump. In response, Trump called her a fighter and said he admired her for her refusal to give up.