Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol wasn't thrilled to see Donald Trump's "triumphant procession" through the streets of Washington D.C., and thinks House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders are jumping to support the presumptive GOP nominee's presidential campaign without assurances on "anything" from Trump.
"It is depressing as a conservative to see Donald Trump make this triumphant procession through Washington with the Republican leadership of the Republican National Committee and the House and Senate basically capitulating to him," Kristol told
MSNBC, while the network was covering Trump's travels between meetings with GOP senators and a separate meeting at a D.C. law firm.
Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus Thursday called the meeting between Trump and Ryan a "positive step toward party unity," and Ryan later still did not indicate he is ready to endorse Trump, but called the work toward party unity a "progress" and called the meeting "encouraging."
Kristol, though, accused Ryan and other Republicans of "jumping on the train without any assurance from anything on Trump," and renewed his call for a third-party candidate to enter the race.
"There are a lot of serious talks going on and polls are being done by Republicans and Democrats," Kristol said. "I hope I can say that, I just said it . . . There is an opening for a genuinely independent campaign."
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