'Unshackled' Trump Just Turned on His Own Party

In a Twitter storm on Tuesday, Donald Trump implied he'd been chained to the Republican Party for too long. But in the wake of recent denouncements from dozens of Republicans, including Paul Ryan, "the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to," he said, per Politico. In what is widely viewed as evidence of a widening rift in the Republican Party, Trump went on to bash Ryan as a "very weak and ineffective leader" and label Democrats—"with the exception of cheating Bernie"—as "far more loyal to each other" than Republicans.

"Despite winning the second debate in a landslide (every poll), it is hard to do well when Paul Ryan and others give zero support!" he continued, adding, Republicans "are far more difficult than Crooked Hillary." Bustle's take: Trump's "going rogue and it could get scary." In response, a rep says Ryan "is focusing the next month on defeating Democrats, and all Republicans running for office should probably do the same," per USA Today. Despite several GOP members calling on Trump to remove himself from the presidential race, the nominee vowed Tuesday to teach Republicans "how to win." (More Donald Trump stories.)