By Francesca Chambers, White House Correspondent and Geoff Earle, Deputy U.s. Political Editor For Dailymail.com
Donald Trump's campaign chief made an extraordinary slip of the tongue on Thursday morning as he sought to reframe the turmoil within the Republican's election team, when he accidentally said he would support someone besides his boss for president.
First Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort admitted on ABC News' Good Morning America that 'there is a conflict within the Trump campaign' over whether the party's standard bearer should endorse Speaker of the House Paul Ryan in his congressional primary.
Trump's failure to do so infuriated the head of the Republican National Committee, and helped trigger reports that officials were checking in on party rules for replacing a nominee should he drop out.
Appearing on CBS This Morning less than half an hour later Thursday, Manafort said, 'I support him as speaker and after next week Iām going to be supporting him for a candidate for President.'
The Trump aide's error ā saying he'd back Ryan for president rather than as a member of Congress ā sent a shockwave through the studio, coming just a day after reports that party officials were researching how to replace Trump in the event that he got out of the race.
'Really?' asked cohost Charlie Rose. Another cohost, Norah O'Donnell, remarked: 'There is talk about that.' Cohost Gayle King told Manafort he should, 'Please talk into the microphone.'
Rose needled the longtime operative and lobbyist and said, 'So, Donald Trump is getting out of the election and Paul Ryan is jumping in?'' as King added, 'There is that rumor, Paul.'
Manafort replied dryly, 'Starting another rumor ...' The conversation then moved on, and he failed to further address how he intended to support Ryan ā who was Mitt Romney's vice presidential running mate in 2012 and had been considering a run for president in 2016 only to get drafted into the speakership.
Ryan would be a natural candidate to try to fill a vacancy for a presidential nominee in such a situation, however unlikely.
The stunning slip-up kicked off another day of drama for the Republican Party's embattled White House candidate.
Slack-jawed senior Republican officials are reportedly so incensed at Trump's recent performance that they have begun actively exploring how to replace him on the ballot were the real estate mogul to drop out of the race.
'Senior party officials' are so upset with his behavior that they are exploring how to replace him on the ballot, ABC News reported.
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