Mike Pence breaks with Donald Trump, endorses Paul Ryan
John Moore/Getty Images
Pence told Fox News in a phone interview that he was "strongly encouraged" by Trump to support his longtime friend in Tuesday's primary.
"He strongly encouraged me to endorse Paul Ryan in next week's primary, and I'm happy to do it," Pence said.
The endorsement came just one day after Trump shocked the political world by refusing to back Ryan, the highest-ranking elected Republican in the country.
"I like Paul, but these are horrible times for our country," Trump said in an interview with The Washington Post. "We need very strong leadership. We need very, very strong leadership. And I'm just not quite there yet. I'm not quite there yet."
Ryan's long-shot primary rival Paul Nehlen has fully embraced Trump's ideology, railing against the finance industry and the speaker's support for some international trade agreements.
In an interview with Business Insider on Tuesday, Nehlen said that Trump was "fed-up" with Ryan over the distant relationship between the two Republican party leaders.
"Why does he weigh in on issues that, on the negative side, every time with Mr. Trump?" Nehlen asked of Ryan. "[Trump's] our nominee. He takes every opportunity to take a shot at Mr. Trump."
- Average housing prices up 10% in Jan-Mar across the top eight cities
- Top visa-on-arrival picks for Indian explorers
- 451 million voters! First four phases of Lok Sabha elections witness 66.95% voter turnout so far
- Best hill stations near Delhi to escape May's heatwave
- India to surpass Japan, become world's fourth largest economy worth USD 4 trillion, in FY25: EAC-PM member
- Nothing Phone (2a) blue edition launched
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market