US House Speaker Will Not Defend Donald Trump

Paul Ryan will not defend Donald Trump but will still support the Republican presidential candidate, after a video of him bragging about sexually harassing women was leaked.

House Speaker Paul Ryan and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Photo: ChicagoTribune.

Speaking to Republican lawmakers yesterday, Mr Ryan said they needed to make their own decisions about whether to continue supporting Mr Trump, following the leak of a 2005 videotape last week in which the candidate bragged about kissing and groping women without their consent.

Mr. Ryan said lawmakers need to do what they think is best for their districts.The House Speaker has not yet withdrawn his support for Mr. Trump, NBC News quoted a spokesman for Mr. Ryan as saying.

Mr. Ryan announced that he would not defend Mr. Trump and would save his energy until election day, to ensure that if Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton was elected, she would not have free rein with a Democratic-controlled Congress.

"The Speaker will spend the next month focused squarely on protecting our congressional majority," said a spokesman for Mr. Ryan.

Mr Ryan's decision came after public outrage over the 2005 video. After the video was released, many Republican lawmakers said they would not support Mr Trump.

According to VNE