In yet another sign of GOP waffling bound to infuriate Donald Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan says Republicans should follow "their conscience" in deciding whether to endorse the billionaire real-estate tycoon as the party's nominee.
"The last thing I would do is tell anybody to do something that's contrary to their conscience," Ryan said on "Meet the Press with Chuck Todd,"
in an interview airing Sunday on NBC.
"I get that this is a very strange situation. He's a very unique nominee."
Ryan's tepid declaration flies in the face of the Trump campaign's insistence that fence-sitting GOP lawmakers must stop dawdling and support him as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
On Thursday, Donald Trump's policy adviser and campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis told CNN's "New Day" that Republicans still whining about the candidate's controversial platform and take-no-prisoners approach must either get on board the Trump train or "just shut the hell up."
But it appears that Ryan — who endorsed Trump but has since chastised him for alleged racist remarks about a Latino-American judge and plan to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. — isn't abiding by the no-nonsense Clovis edict.
Ryan told Chuck Todd that he's sticking with his endorsement because to do otherwise could hurt the GOP.
"I feel as a responsibility institutionally as the Speaker of the House that I should not be leading some chasm in the middle of our party. Because you know what I know that'll do? That'll definitely knock us out of the White House," Ryan said, alluding to a Hillary Clinton victory.
It's doubtful though that some Republican heavyweights will ever embrace Trump.
Two sitting governors, Larry Hogan of Maryland and Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, have already said they won't vote for Trump. And Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and two-time presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney continue to blast him.
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