Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is facing a firestorm of criticism following a campaign press release published on Monday calling for a ban on all Muslims from entering the United States.
His critics include Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) who issued a statement on Tuesday condemning Trump for making such a proposal.
During Tuesday’s press briefing, White House spokesman Josh Earnest sounded off on Speaker Ryan if, despite his disapproval of the GOP front-runner’s remarks, Ryan would still support Trump if he is chosen as the party's nominee.
“I think what I would say is those comments don’t mean that much if they’re going to go ahead and vote for him,” said Earnest.
He similarly blasted Trump’s fellow GOP contenders, calling on each candidate to issue a “definitive statement” on whether they will support Trump if nominated by the RNC.
“I think what we need to see is a definitive statement from every candidate of the presidency about whether or not Mr. Trump is somebody that they can vote for,” he said. “And if they are willing to walk the walk when it comes to their news releases or the tweets that are submitted by their campaigns, then they should say so.”
“I think their statements about this pledge that they have taken to support Mr. Trump will speak volumes, as will the silence if nobody says anything,” he added.
Earnest argued that the candidates’ support for Trump is “in it of itself, disqualifying” for their eligibility for the presidency.
“What [Trump] has said is entirely disqualifying from serving as President of the United States,” said Earnest. “And they continue to stand by him and to pledge [their] support to him if he were to become the Republican nominee is in it of itself disqualifying.”
“Do they have the courage of their convictions to stand up to Mr. Trump’s supporters and say that they are going to side with the Constitution over Mr. Trump even if Mr. Trump is the Republican nominee?" he went on. "If they don’t have that much courage – if they are so cowed by Mr. Trump and his supporters that they are not willing to stand by the values enshrined by the Constitution – then they have no business serving as the President of the United States themselves,” Earnest fired.
Listen to his remarks begin here and the full press conference below.