Donald Trump’s campaign chairman acknowledged Thursday that there is “conflict” within the campaign over the Republican nominee’s hesitation to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan for re-election.
“There’s a conflict within the Trump campaign,” Paul Manafort said on ABC Thursday. “And we’ve sort of had a rule of not getting involved in primaries.”
Manafort insisted that Trump and Ryan are “very good friends,” and that he is “trying to bridge the party with Paul Ryan.”
“But Paul Ryan is running against someone who’s not going to win but is a strong supporter of Mr. Trump,” the GOP nominee’s campaign chairman added. Businessman Paul Nehlen is fighting to defeat Ryan in the GOP primary, and Trump thanked Nehlen for his support in a tweet this week.
In an interview with the Washington Post on Tuesday, Trump roiled the GOP by refusing to endorse Ryan in his primary next week in Wisconsin. But as Manafort said, Ryan is expected to win re-election there.
Ryan himself was hesitant to endorse Trump at first, but did so and has since refused to rescind it despite several public clashes with him.
