Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump
Donald TrumpNoem touts South Dakota coronavirus response, knocks lockdowns in CPAC speech On The Trail: Cuomo and Newsom — a story of two embattled governors McCarthy: 'I would bet my house' GOP takes back lower chamber in 2022 MORE on Tuesday bragged about polls that show him winning the second presidential debate but admitted it's difficult to succeed without top Republicans backing him.
"Desite [sic] winning the second debate in a landslide (every poll), it is hard to do well when Paul Ryan
Paul Davis RyanCruz hires Trump campaign press aide as communications director Bottom line Ex-Trump chief of staff Priebus mulling Wisconsin governor bid MORE and others give zero support!" the GOP nominee tweeted.
Desite winning the second debate in a landslide (every poll), it is hard to do well when Paul Ryan and others give zero support!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2016
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Monday told rank-and-file Republicans he would no longer defend or campaign with Trump, though he did not rescind his endorsement.
The Speaker also told his GOP colleagues during a conference call that they should deal with Trump in a way that ensures they win their own congressional races in November.
Ryan's comments come 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.
Trump brushed off his comments as locker room talk during Sunday night's presidential debate.
The release of the tape, though, has resulted in backlash from many Republicans. Some have rescinded their support for their party's nominee and others have called for Trump to drop out of the race.
Trump on Monday criticized Ryan after the Speaker's comments were publicized.
"Paul Ryan should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee," Trump tweeted.
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
Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonMedia circles wagons for conspiracy theorist Neera Tanden The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by The AIDS Institute - Senate ref axes minimum wage, House votes today on relief bill Democratic strategists start women-run media consulting firm MORE, 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.
