Washington: In a sign that the party is gradually rallying behind him, as many as nine chairmen of key Congressional committees in the US House of Representatives have endorsed presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“We stand on the precipice of one of the most important elections of our lifetime. This great nation cannot endure eight more years of Democrat-control of the White House,” chairmen of nine Committees said in a joint statement.
“It cannot afford to put Democrats in charge of Congress. It is paramount that we coalesce around the Republican nominee, Donald J Trump, and maintain control of both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate,” they said.
The nine chairmen are Steve Chabot (Small Business), Michael Conaway (Agriculture), Jeb Hensarling (Financial Services), Candice Miller (House Administration), Jeff Miller (Veterans Affairs), Tom Price (Budget), Pete Sessions (Rules), Bill Shuster (Transportation and Infrastructure), and Lamar Smith (Science, Space and Technology).
“Any other outcome is a danger to economic growth, puts our national security in peril, enshrines ObamaCare as the law of the land, entraps Americans in a cycle of poverty and dependence, and undermines our constitutional republic,” they said.
“There is a path to winning in November, and it comes through unity. To solidify this partnership, we endorse Trump as the Republican nominee for President and call upon all Americans to support him,” the joint statement said.
In a statement, Trump said a strong House Republican Majority is imperative to fixing the problems facing America and making the country better and stronger than ever before. Meanwhile, Trump said he has no intention of getting back the $50 million that he has loaned to his campaign.
“I have absolutely no intention of paying myself back for the nearly USD 50 million I have loaned to the campaign. This money is a contribution made in order to 'Make America Great Again',” he told MSNBC.
The New York Times pressed Trump to release his tax returns after the real estate mogul told a news channel that “it is none of your business”.
Democrats want Sanders to exit
Democratic Party leaders are upping the pressure on Bernie Sanders to drop his presidential campaign, alarmed that his continued presence is undermining efforts to beat the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump, and again win the White House.
“I don't think they think of the downside of this,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a supporter of front-runner Hillary Clinton and broker of the post-primary peace between Clinton and then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in 2008.
“It's actually harmful because she can't make that general-election pivot the way she should,” Feinstein said. “Trump has made that pivot.” The new concerns come after Sanders' recent wins over Clinton in Indiana and West Virginia.
While those victories have provided his supporters a fresh sense of momentum heading into next week's primaries in Kentucky and Oregon, they did almost nothing to help Sanders cut into Clinton's nearly insurmountable lead in the delegates who will decide their party's nomination.
