Remember all the pundits fawning over how “presidential” Donald Trump is supposedly looking these days? Well, after Paul Ryan said Thursday he wasn’t “ready” to endorse the presumptive nominee, The Donald had the opportunity to really flaunt his diplomacy skills and unify the party. And after sitting with Ryan’s declaration overnight, Trump took to twitter Friday morning to win over the GOP House Speaker.
Attaboy, Donald! P90X Wonder Boy, my a$$! Anyway, to be fair, Trump does know a thing or two about inheritance, and he got this one the old fashioned way—he earned it.
But just in case he hadn’t made himself perfectly clear, Team Trump topped off the tweet by questioning Ryan’s suitability to be speaker when Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson was asked about it on CNN.
“If the Republican speaker of the House does not come around to supporting the Republican nominee, do you think that Paul Ryan is still fit to be speaker?” CNN’s John Berman asked Friday.
“No,” Pierson responded, “because this is about the party.”
Exactly. Just like Trump indicated above—party above all else! (Ahem.)
No worries though. RNC chair Reince Priebus is here to patch things up.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Friday that Donald Trump is not the head of the Republican Party, while calling on the presumptive nominee to do more to change his tone to reach out to minority voters this fall. [...]
Priebus, who has appealed for GOP unity, acknowledged that significant gaps remain between Trump and the Republican Party on policy and style. Priebus said the GOP does not endorse Trump’s call for a temporary ban on Muslim immigration and said Trump must adjust the way he presents himself to the Latino community.
“It’s not something that I believe in or our party believes in,” Priebus said of the Muslim ban. “I believe our party is the party of the open door. Our party is the party of opportunity and freedom and equality and it always will remain such.”
Really, Reince? You’ve been kissing Donald’s ring for a year and now you speak up, and the party’s all “open door” and “freedom” and rose petals and warm fuzzies? Sorry buddy—if anyone willed the party to Trump, you did. It’s a little late to ride in on your unicorn and reclaim it now.