Wisconsin Republicans step back from Trump
Wisconsin's top Republicans who support Donald Trump are quiet after a turbulent weekend for the presidential nominee.
House Speaker Paul Ryan told congressional Republicans that he won't defend Donald Trump now or in the future and will spend the next month defending his party's House majority.
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Gov. Scott Walker were silent during and after Sunday night's second presidential debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton. Walker tweeted about the Green Bay Packers game, but not the debate.
A statement put out by Trump's Wisconsin campaign offering comment from "leaders" had reaction from only one elected official. And that was the village president of Thiensville.
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Walker and Johnson also avoided talking about Trump at a Republican rally on Saturday. Ryan referenced vulgar comments Trump had made that came to light Friday, calling it a "troubling situation."
That led to heckling from some Trump supporters in the crowd.
Johnson on Monday was asked in an interview on WLIP-AM in Kenosha to respond to comments from the campaign of his opponent Russ Feingold about how Johnson could continue to support Trump. Many Republican office holders have dropped their support and called for Trump to exit the race after vulgar comments he made about women in 2005 surfaced Friday.
Johnson says he would ask Feingold how he could continue to support Clinton, saying that her "dereliction of duty" cost four American lives in Benghazi and her use of a private email server put national security at risk.
Trump made similar attacks in Sunday's presidential debate.
To hear a discussion on the state of the election in Wisconsin between MPR News host Tom Weber and Wisconsin Public Radio reporters Laurel White and Shawn Johnson use the audio player above