Allies of Sen. John McCain, like Sen. Jeff Flake, flew to his defense after Donald Trump criticized him. | Getty Ryan, McCain allies rise to their defense against Trump

Close Republican allies of Paul Ryan and John McCain are coming to their defense after Donald Trump handed the two veteran GOP figures an extraordinary political snub by declining to endorse them in their primary elections this year.

Stirring up yet another intraparty rift, Trump said in an interview with The Washington Post this week that he wasn’t in a place to back either the House speaker nor the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, while openly praising Ryan’s little-known primary challenger, Paul Nehlen, on Twitter.


In a later interview with Fox News, Trump accused McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam and lead negotiator of a 2014 deal on veterans’ health care, of mistreating veterans. Both McCain and Ryan have endorsed Trump, although Ryan famously waffled before formally backing him.

Furious GOP lawmakers already antagonized by Trump fought back Wednesday, pointing to the standard-bearer’s comments as yet another example of his transgressions on policy and party politics.

“I can understand not supporting those who haven’t supported him and trying to leverage support that way,” Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who has not endorsed Trump and is close to McCain, said in a phone interview Wednesday. “But man, for those who [are] — under difficult circumstances, given some of the statements that the candidate has made — still supporting him and then for him to turn around and say no, it’s not going to be reciprocal? I’m at a loss for words.”

Rep. Reid Ribble, a retiring GOP lawmaker who like Ryan represents Wisconsin, said in an interview that he and “most” of his colleagues are “just stunned at his approach.”

"Attacking somebody like Paul Ryan who’s as popular as he is in Wisconsin is a real mistake,” Ribble said. “It may make him feel better when he goes to sleep at night because he lashed out at somebody, but it won’t help him.”

And it put lawmakers who are close to Trump’s congressional targets, yet still supporting the nominee, in a tough position.

Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is one of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans on the ballot this fall, and he has committed to supporting Trump while trying to separate himself when it comes to Trump’s ban on Muslims or his belittling of a Muslim-American couple whose son died fighting in the Iraq War.

But Johnson has campaigned frequently with Ryan, who has been a key validator for the first-term senator in his competitive reelection bid. Johnson said in a statement backing up Ryan after Trump’s snub: "Paul Ryan is a man of intelligence, integrity, ideas, and courage. I fully support him."

Notably, Johnson, Ryan and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker are planning to skip a Trump rally in Green Bay on Friday.

Trump also indicated that he would not support Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who is running a competitive race in New Hampshire, saying in the Post interview that the first-term senator has “given me no support, zero support, and yet I’m leading her in the polls.”

Ayotte responded in a statement through her campaign: "I call it like I see it, and I'm always going to stand up for our military families and what's best for the people of New Hampshire."

Ryan is facing the little-known Nehlen in an Aug. 9 primary in Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District. In a lengthy statement delivered at a news conference in Janesville — Ryan’s hometown — the businessman and political novice sought to tie himself to Trump and accused Ryan of party disloyalty.

“Speaker Ryan’s repeated betrayal of Donald Trump is an act of sabotage against our party and an act of sabotage against our Republican electorate who selected Mr. Trump as our nominee,” Nehlen said. “Speaker Ryan’s actions once again indicate that has never cared about his constituents that he’s been elected to represent.”

Ribble indicated he isn’t concerned about Ryan’s fate in the primary, and Flake also said McCain — who is facing two primary challengers in his Aug. 30 primary in Arizona — was “doing fine” and aggressively campaigning throughout the state.

Flake added that Trump’s criticism of McCain on veterans issues is “just laughable, frankly, if it weren’t so serious.”

“He is a permanent fixture around veterans in Arizona,” Flake said. “Whether it’s over at the VA in Phoenix with all the issues it had, I’ve sat in those meetings with him over and over. I’ve signed the letters he generates questioning the administration. I’ve seen him, question in hearings, the administration.”

And other Republicans who have aligned behind Trump suggested the nominee should quit harping on internal GOP rifts and focus on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

"Let’s not worry about the speaker’s primary, which I don’t think he’s too worried about. And let’s not worry about these other races,” said Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who supports Trump. “Why pick a fight with Republicans that are going to be on the ballot with you instead of Hillary Clinton?”

Rep. Charlie Dent, a moderate from Pennsylvania who has become one of Trump’s biggest critics, added that the GOP nominee is “hell-bent on losing a very winnable presidential election against a seriously flawed candidate.”

"For those people who have kind of tepidly endorsed Donald Trump, this is what they get, right?” Dent quipped. “It just goes to show that even a tepid endorsement isn’t an endorsement at all to Donald Trump."