WASHINGTON — US House Speaker Paul Ryan denounced as textbook racism Donald Trump’s condemnation of a Mexican-American judge, slamming him as Republican Party leaders sought to distance themselves from their presidential nominee on Tuesday.Trump’s repeated insistence that US District Judge Gonzalo Curiel is biased in a case involving him because he was born to Mexican parents threatened to disrupt Republicans’ already difficult efforts to unite behind the candidate.Ryan’s emphatic rejection showed anxiety among party leaders about their ability to hang on to control of the US Congress in the November 8 election, if voters trounce Trump and also punish Republicans lower down on the ticket.The issue also plunged the Trump campaign into disarray as his core supporters struggled to explain his remarks amid appeals from party leaders for Trump to apologise and move on.Ryan, the top elected US Republican, expressed misgivings last month about Trump after the billionaire real estate develo...
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