Elections

As Establishment GOP Backs Away, Trump Says ‘The Shackles Have Been Taken Off Me’

(REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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As the Republican establishment backs away from him, Donald Trump says he now feels like “the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to.”

His comments follow Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House, telling his fellow Republicans on Monday that he won’t use his energy to defend Trump but will rather work to try to preserve the party’s majority in the House.

After video surfaced Friday of Trump using lewd language in 2005, scores of Republicans condemned him and more than 25 GOP lawmakers called on him to step down.

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Trump lashed out at Ryan and argued the Democrats are more loyal to their party’s nominee.

“With the exception of cheating Bernie out of the nom the Dems have always proven to be far more loyal to each other than the Republicans!” Trump said.

Speaking of Ryan, Trump tweeted. “Our very weak and ineffective leader, Paul Ryan, had a bad conference call where his members went wild at his disloyalty. Despite winning the second debate in a landslide (every poll), it is hard to do well when Paul Ryan and others give zero support!”

On Monday, Trump said of the speaker: “Paul Ryan should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee.”

Perhaps the first sign of Trump doing things his way — and not the way Washington Republicans would probably prefer — was Trump appearing with Bill Clinton accusers Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey and Paula Jones in the hours before Sunday’s debate. Also appearing with Trump was Kathy Shelton, a rape victim who has criticized Hillary Clinton for serving as the rapist’s defense attorney.

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