DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: Their party in crisis, Republicans’ frustration with Donald Trump reached new heights on Wednesday as party leaders on Capitol Hill and inside New York’s Trump Tower scrambled to persuade their presidential nominee to abandon divisive tactics that have triggered sinking poll numbers and low morale.
Party Chairman Reince Priebus appealed to the New York billionaire’s adult children to help amid new signs of a campaign in trouble.
Trump’s operation has been beset by internal discord, including growing concern about general election preparedness and a lack of support from Republican leaders, according to two people familiar with the organization’s inner workings.
One of the people said Trump privately blames his own staff for failing to quiet the backlash from his own party after he criticized an American Muslim family whose son, a U.S. Army captain, was killed in Iraq.
The inner tension comes as Priebus and a handful of high-profile Trump allies consider whether to confront the candidate directly to encourage a new approach following a series of startling stances and statements. In the midst of the uproar over his continued criticism of the Khan family, Trump infuriated Priebus and other party leaders by refusing to endorse GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan’s re-election.
The officials, including one with direct knowledge of Priebus’ thinking, were granted anonymity to discuss internal strategy after one of the most tumultuous weeks of Trump’s presidential campaign.
Trump on Wednesday dismissed suggestions that the GOP frustration was hurting his campaign, even as he openly contemplated an Election Day loss.
“Wouldn’t that be embarrassing to lose to crooked Hillary Clinton? That would be terrible,” he said during a campaign stop in battleground Florida. He also insisted, “We’ve never been this united.”
The most powerful Republicans in Washington and New York’s Trump Tower concede things will not change unless Trump wants them to.
“The candidate is in control of his campaign,” campaign Chairman Paul Manafort told the Fox News Network, highlighting his inability to control the nominee. “And I’m in control of doing the things that he wants me to do in the campaign.”
Clinton, meanwhile, kept up her assault on Trump’s business practices, holding up a Trump-branded tie as she spoke at the Knotty Tie Co. in battleground Colorado.
“I really would like him to explain why he paid Chinese workers to make Trump ties,” she told employees in Denver, “instead of deciding to make those ties right here in Colorado.”
Trump’s vice presidential nominee, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, tried to put a better face on a recent difference during a phone interview with Fox.
Pence said he spoke with Trump on Wednesday morning “about my support for Paul Ryan and our longtime friendship. He strongly encouraged me to endorse Paul Ryan in next Tuesday’s primary. And I’m pleased to do it.”
Trump on Wednesday reported raising $80 million in July for his campaign and the Republican Party, a significant improvement from past months. Clinton raised about $90 million over the same period.
Trump’s $80 million includes about $64 million raised through online and direct mail appeals, the campaign said, evidence that Trump is leaning on small donors to finance the bulk of his presidential run.