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Donald Trump Faces Resistance From GOP Leaders After Becoming Party’s Presumptive Nominee

By Val Powell
Published on: 01:12 PST, May 6, 2016

Donald Trump became the only remaining candidate for the GOP after Senator Ted Cruz and Governor John Kasich officially bowed out of the competition. This means that the business tycoon will be the inevitable nominee for the general elections.

The front-runner gained a huge 53.3 percent of the total votes in Indiana on Tuesday, compared to Cruz’s 36.7 percent. This led to the Senator quitting the race on Wednesday.

However, many leaders from the party still refuse to line up behind Donald Trump, 69. Instead, they called for the business tycoon to tone down his language and to specify his plans if he becomes president.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, who is the party’s highest elected official and among the GOP’s most influential members, said in a CNN interview that he is “just not ready” to support Donald Trump.

Ryan, however, said that the former TV personality should unify all the wings of the Republican Party and the Conservative movement. He also urged Donald Trump to run a campaign that his supporters, the party, and America will be proud of.

“And we’ve got a ways to go from here to there,” Ryan said, implying that the unification of the party in favor of a Donald Trump candidacy is still possible.

He said that the billionaire should take the principles that the party believes in and ensure that those principles would be upheld. He also shared that the real estate mogul should launch a campaign that will appeal to more Americans in order to make the Republican party proud.

Nonetheless, it looks like Donald Trump has other things in mind.

In a statement released hours after Ryan’s comments, the former reality TV host said that he does not want to support the agenda of the House Speaker.

“Perhaps in the future we can work together and come to an agreement about what is best for the American people. They have been treated so badly for so long that it is about time for politicians to put them first!” he said in the statement.

A news outlet tried to reach out to some influential names in the Republican Party and found out that majority of them do not support Donald Trump.

Out of 16 influential names, politicians, leaders, and major fundraisers, none of them said that they would be going to the Republican National Convention in July where former The Apprentice host would be officially recognized as the GOP’s nominee.

While some Republicans are not supporting Donald Trump, others are aiming to find a third-party replacement for him.

Conservative blogger Erick Erickson recently told CNN that some members of the Congress are teaming up with Republican leaders in looking for another person to become an alternative to the business mogul.

Erickson said that while the plan to replace Donald Trump may not be endorsed by the House Speaker, his opposition is enough reason for anti-Trump Republicans to embrace the idea of replacing the eventual nominee.

Fortunately for the billionaire, there are still a number of Republicans who have shown their support in spite the widening gap within the GOP. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, and Rob Portman of Ohio have expressed their interest in supporting the business tycoon.

“He is not a perfect man. But what I do believe is that he loves this country and he will surround himself with capable, experienced people and he will listen to them,” said former presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, in another CNN interview.

While most Republicans have either showed support or non-support for Donald Trump, there are also some who want to stay on neutral grounds. This includes Senator Kelly Ayotte, who said she would support him but will not endorse the presidential candidate.

[Photo by Mark Lyons/Getty Images]

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