Republicans trust Donald Trump more than Paul Ryan

A new poll found on Tuesday that rank-and-file Republicans differ from party elites who see House Speaker Paul Ryan as the GOP leader.

Nearly six in 10 Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters say they trust Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, over Ryan to lead the GOP, according to the latest NBC/SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking poll released on Tuesday.

Nearly four in 10 trust the speaker more, said the poll.

Asked about response to the poll result at a news conference here, Ryan said he had no issue with the result.

"I hope it's Donald Trump. He's getting the nomination," said Ryan.

The poll came just days after Ryan and Trump held their first formal meeting since the New York billionaire developer became the GOP's presumptive nominee.

So far, Ryan, GOP's highest-ranking officeholder, had still withheld a formal endorsement of Trump, insisting that he would not "fake" GOP unity after a chaotic and divisive primary season.

Trump first drew widespread criticism last June when he said in his presidential announcement speech that Mexico was sending "rapists" and drug dealers to the United States. Since that, he had repeatedly vowed, if elected president, to deport about 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.

In another outburst of emotional remarks, Trump called for a "total and complete" ban on Muslims entering the United States in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015.

Since then, the targets of Trump's insults expanded to include women, African-American protesters, family members of rivals, etc.

According to a list compiled by The New York Times, Trump had insulted on Twitter 210 individuals, places and things since declaring his presidential candidacy last June.

The Times list did not include targets of Trump's insults broadcasted on cable.

Despite the urgency to unite the divided GOP, Trump indicated in his recent interview with The New York Times that he had a "mandate" from his supporters to continue his candidacy as a "fiery populist outsider."

"You win the pennant and now you're in the World Series- you gonna change?" said Trump to The Times. "People like the way I'm doing."

Source: XINHUA