The rocky relationship between Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan took another turn Tuesday as Trump stirred their feud.
"Our very weak and ineffective leader, Paul Ryan, had a bad conference call where his members went wild at his disloyalty,” Trump tweeted. "Despite winning the second debate in a landslide (every poll), it is hard to do well when Paul Ryan and others give zero support!"
This comes after Ryan said he could no longer defend Trump. The battle between Trump and Ryan is on the minds of voters in Wisconsin’s first congressional district as they will see both names on the ballot in just four weeks.
Along the city streets of Racine, Paul Ryan and Donald Trump campaign signs stand side by side, but their feud over the past few days suggest that’s the closest the two will come before election day.
"I think they are both acting very foolishly and unprofessionally,” said Racine voter Kathleen Daly.
Racine voter Andrew Haywood said he’s splitting on the two republican candidates in their respective races. Haywood tells TODAY’S TMJ4 he’s supporting Ryan, but not Trump.
"He’s been my representative for many years and I don’t see too much that I disagree with him on,” Haywood said.
Ryan and Trump’s differences are nothing new. It started back in May when Ryan said he wasn’t ready to immediately jump on the 'Trump Train’ after the billionaire businessman wrapped by the republican nomination.
“At this point, I'm just not there right now,” Ryan said.
Ryan eventually endorsed Trump in June, but Trump initially refused to endorse Ryan saying, “I’m not there yet.” He too eventually came around.
Fast forward to last weekend, Trump and Ryan were supposed to share the stage at a Republican rally in Walworth County. It never happened after the story broke about Trump’s lewd comments about women in 2005. Ryan said he was sickened by the comments.
Back in Racine, early voting is already underway. Ryan is once again on the ticket for congress, a district he’s won since 1998. With a known divide between Ryan and Trump, Racine County Chairwoman Lisa Bell insists conservatives in Racine continue to support both.
"I’m not going to condemn either one,” Bell said. "I think they’re both doing what they think they need to do.”
While dozens of Racine voters said they’ve seen enough in this election cycle to head to the polls four weeks early, some wouldn’t mind flashing forward to election day to move on from the attacks on both sides.
"It’s unprofessional enough between parties but within a party it’s very unseemly,” Daly said.
