Reading from prepared notes, looking like a hostage reading a ransom note, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump quietly reversed his earlier decision and tonight endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator John McCain for reelection.
“In our shared mission to make America great again, I support and endorse our Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan,” said Trump at a rally in Green Bay. “He’s a good man and a good guy. We may disagree on a couple things but mostly we agree.”
Ryan was not at the rally, but is expected to win his primary fight by a wide margin next week. Ryan had not requested Trump’s support and it only became an issue after Trump brought it up in an interview earlier this week.
After endorsing Ryan, and reading a prepared statement on how he was the candidate who had opposed the establishment, Trump surprised many and endorsed McCain who has been in Washington for 35 years.
“I hold in the highest esteem Senator John McCain, for his service to our country in uniform and public office and fully support and endorse his reelection,” said Trump. “Very important, we’ll work together.”
Last year Trump mocked McCain saying he was not an American hero because “he got captured.”
Trump’s decision earlier this week not to endorse either Ryan or McCain had angered top Republican leaders and was widely condemned. The GOP has become a fractured political party with 92 days to go until the election.
I wonder how many of the rational Republicans that have been planning to abstain from voting for Trump or maybe even voting for Clinton and the rational undecided independents will be persuaded if Trump now reverses all of those horrible things he has been saying and doing for the last year.