Trump thrashes top Republican

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump thrashed House Speaker Paul Ryan saying he did not want "want" or "care" about having his support.

"I don't want his (Paul Ryan) support," Trump said on Tuesday in an interview to Fox News.

"I don't care about his support. What I want to do is I want to win for the people," Trump added.

Trump's attacks come a day after Ryan told his House colleagues he would no longer defend or campaign for Trump after a 2005 video emerged showing him making obscene comments about groping women, CNN reported.

However, Ryan maintained that he was still endorsing and voting for Trump.

The real-estate magnate also said that the Republicans were coming at him "from all sides" and their disloyalty was harder to fight than the Democrats.

"They're not giving support -- they don't give the support that we really need -- but the fact is that I think we should get support and we don't get the support from guys like Paul Ryan," Trump said.

In the interview, Trump also fired off a list of grievances against Ryan, ranging from "open borders and amnesty" to "bad budgets".

The Republican nominee also criticised Arizona Senator John McCain -- the 2008 presidential nominee -- who withdrew his endorsement over the weekend following the release of the video on Friday that revealed Trump describing how he had sought to have sex with a married woman and making other sexually aggressive comments about women.

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama's spokesman said Trump's remarks were "repugnant" and amounted to sexual assault.

Nearly half the 331 incumbent Republican senators, House members and governors have condemned the lewd remarks and about 10 per cent have called for him to drop out of the race.

The renewed party divisions over Trump come as a new PRRI/Atlantic poll suggested that Democratic rival Hillary Clinton holds a 49-38 lead over her opponent.

--IANS

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