Donald Trump said he won't endorse a pair of Republican Party leaders who have grudgingly endorsed him after his primary win, taunting House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in a Tuesday interview.
Trump told the Washington Post that he's "not quite there yet" on endorsing Ryan after praising the House Speaker's primary rival, Paul Nehlen, and claiming that Ryan has sought his endorsement.
That language mocks the language Ryan used as he dragged his feet on a Trump endorsement before he eventually relented and threw his support behind his party's nominee.
"I like Paul, but these are horrible times for our country," Trump said. "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."
The two have long had a tense relationship. Ryan has criticized Trump from the start, from his plan to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. to his recent attacks on the parents of fallen Muslim-American soldier Humayun Khan.
Ryan's team dismissed the idea that he'd asked Trump for his support.
"Neither Speaker Ryan nor anyone on his team has ever asked for Donald Trump's endorsement, and we are confident in a victory next week regardless," Ryan campaign spokesman Zack Roday said in a statement.
He was even rougher with McCain, who he mocked a year ago for being captured while he was in the Air Force in Vietnam. McCain took his strongest shot at Trump this week over his attacks on the Khan family.
"I've never been there with John McCain because I've always felt that he should have done a much better job for the vets," Trump continued. "He has not done a good job for the vets and I've always felt that he should have done a much better job for the vets. So I've always had a difficult time with John for that reason, because our vets are not being treated properly. They're not being treated fairly."
Both McCain and Ryan are expected to win their primaries, though McCain's is looking more competitive. McCain faces a tough reelection race in Republican-leaning Arizona, largely because Trump's presence at the top of the ticket is galvanizing Latinos in the state.
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