GREEN BAY, Wisconsin—With no prominent Wisconsin Republicans on hand, GOP nominee Donald Trump limped into Wisconsin on Friday and belatedly endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan and 2008 nominee Sen. John McCain, trying to heal the wounds of a rough week of party infighting.
“I fully support and endorse Paul Ryan,” Trump said on Friday, prompting both cheers and boos from about 2,000 supporters here.
The real-estate mogul has seen his poll numbers plummet this week as he feuded with the family of a fallen soldier and with Ryan, the most popular politician of his party in this potential battleground state.
The difficult week for Trump has overshadowed potentially damaging news for Democrats and his rival Hillary Clinton, such as recent revelations about how the United States delivered $400 million to Iran as part of a nuclear detente deal. After pointedly declining to do so earlier this week and being drubbed by Wisconsin Republicans, Trump endorsed Ryan as the Janesville Republican goes into a primary on Tuesday with businessman Paul Nehlen. Such an endorsement, though a small win for Ryan, might come too late to fully undo the damage in Wisconsin.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican, wrote in a column on Friday morning on the web site Right Wisconsin that he was “heartbroken” to see Trump praising Nehlen and withholding support from Ryan.
