The nominee prepped for his Green Bay visit with a flurry of attacks on the state GOP's favorite son.By KATIE GLUECK 10/17/16 07:12 PM EDT
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/trump-wisconsin-ryan-priebus-229905Wisconsin Republicans already rejected Donald Trump once. His escalating attacks on Paul Ryan are motivating a sizable number of them to do it again.
Trump will campaign in Green Bay Monday night, but many Republicans won’t be glad to see him one day after he launched a Twitter tirade against Ryan, the speaker of the House and the pride of the Wisconsin GOP.
After getting blown out in the state’s primary last spring, Trump already faced a steep challenge in winning over local Republicans. The attacks on Ryan, activists and party officials say, are further compounding his challenge in the state.
“Wisconsinites know Paul Ryan, Paul’s been an elected official here a long time, he’s well-liked and highly regarded in Wisconsin,” said Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.), who represents Green Bay and opposes Trump. “He ought to be going and campaigning against Hillary Clinton, focusing on the issues that differentiate him from her, not this internecine battle between him and Ryan.”
But Trump has made a habit of sticking it to Wisconsin Republicans. He’s been critical of Gov. Scott Walker and needled Ryan on and off throughout much of the campaign, and even spent part of his Sunday tweeting complaints about the speaker and former Republican vice presidential nominee. Ryan’s most recent sin was making it clear last week that he was done defending Trump — though he didn’t officially pull his endorsement.
“The Democrats have a corrupt political machine pushing crooked Hillary Clinton. We have Paul Ryan, always fighting the Republican nominee!,” Trump vented on Twitter. “Paul Ryan, a man who doesn't know how to win (including failed run four years ago), must start focusing on the budget, military, vets etc.”
The focus on bashing Ryan in the homestretch of the election isn’t helping in a state that’s been slow to embrace Trump, despite support from Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, a former Wisconsin GOP chair himself who has defended Trump through most of the candidate’s controversies.
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