Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday morning against House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and other Republicans who have distanced themselves from him, as the extraordinary turbulence in the Republican Party intensified four weeks from Election Day.
In tweets, Trump called Ryan “weak and ineffective,” accused him of providing “zero support,” said Democrats are more loyal than Republicans and declared that “the shackles have been taken off” him, freeing him to “fight for America the way I want to.”
https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/785816454042124288
A spokesman for Ryan declined to fire back at Trump but noted that it would probably be better for the party if all were training their fire four weeks before Election Day on Democrats.
"Paul Ryan is focusing the next month on defeating Democrats, and all Republicans running for office should probably do the same," the spokesman said.
The GOP nominee on Monday also bragged about polls that show him winning the second presidential debate. But the polls he cited are online polls that often allow visitors to repeatedly vote for the person they thought won the debate, rather than more scientific surveys that poll a specific number of people across party lines.
The polls Trump referenced included one from the Drudge Report, which the GOP nominee leads Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, 70 to 30, and from Breitbart, which showed Trump with a 93 to 7 percent lead over Clinton.
Several polls conducted since the debate have shown Clinton won the debate. In a Politico/Morning Consult poll released Tuesday, 42 percent of voters say Clinton won the debate, compared with just 27 percent of voters who say Trump was victorious.
Clinton holds double-digit lead over Trump in national poll
(The Hill) Clinton has an 11-point lead over Donald Trump, according to a PRRI/The Atlantic poll released Tuesday.
Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, is now favored by 49 percent of likely voters, while Trump, the Republican nominee, is backed by 38 percent.
The poll shows Clinton increasing her lead over Trump. A poll conducted two weeks ago showed both major-party nominees tied among likely voters at 43 percent.
A portion of the poll was conducted after the release of a 2005 tape in which Trump is heard making lewd comments about women. In the tape, the GOP nominee describes how he can grope and kiss women without their consent because of his celebrity status. The tape's release has led to fallout among some Republicans, who say they can no longer support their party's nominee.
The new poll finds Clinton has a commanding lead, 61 percent to 28 percent, over Trump among women.
The poll was conducted from Oct. 5 to 9 among 1,327 voters. The margin of error is 3.2 percentage points. Close to half of the interviews were conducted after the release of the 2005 tape.
According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, Clinton has a 5.1-point lead over her Republican rival, 44.8 percent to 39.7 percent.
An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that came out Monday also showed the Democratic nominee with an 11-point lead over Trump.
