BUFFALO, N.Y. - The leader of the Erie County Republicans said Wednesday he has not wavered whatsoever in his support of Donald Trump, despite a week in which Trump became embroiled in numerous controversies and lost the support of a top Republican donor and a sitting GOP member of Congress.
"I support Donald Trump," Erie County Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy said. "Period."
Langworthy's continued endorsement is significant, considering a few high-profile Republicans have now backed away from Donald Trump's candidacy. Meg Whitman, a major Republican donor who contributed heavily to Mitt Romney's campaign, has now vowed to donate to Hillary Clinton during this election cycle. On Tuesday, Richard Hannah (R-NY), who is set to retire from the House of Representatives, became the first Republican in Congress to not only denounce Trump, but actually publicly proclaim he'll vote for Clinton in November.
Even Newt Gingrich called Trump's behavior "self-destructive" this past week. Trump has fueded with the parents of a fallen soldier and refused to endorse Senator John McCain and House Speaker Paul Ryan in their Republican congressional primaries, telling the Washington Post he's "not quite there yet." NBC News has reported top Republican leaders may be planning an "intervention" of sorts to rebuild Trump's campaign.
While admitting it was not Trump's finest week, Langworthy said he has no regrets about his endorsement, which he made last March.
Regarding the Khan situation, Langworthy said:
"First and foremost, their family has paid the ultimate price for our country, and I absolutely salute them. Mr. Khan also did enter the political arena. There's been a great deal of media bias in this situation," Langworthy said. "Donald Trump is an undisciplined politician -- I'm happy to say that as a supporter of his -- he actually doesn't listen to his handlers. And he responded.
I don't think the criticism was all that harsh. He made a comment. He probably should have just kept his mouth shut moved on with his message, stayed on with his message. He did not do that, but it's not like Mr. Khan... it's not like they picked him out of the phone book and started to talk about that family. He has become a partisan figure in this situation."
Langworthy dismissed the shift in alliances from Meg Whitman and Congressman Hannah, who he said were not "top Republicans." Hannah, he said, is a "very moderate, if not liberal member of the House of Representatives."
Langworthy also brushed off Trump's non-endorsement of McCain and Ryan.
"The comments, again, are probably poorly timed," Langworthy said. "Again, it has not been a great week for the campaign. The candidate needs to get back on message and talk about his vision for the country."
At a rally in Florida on Wednesday, Trump assured his supporters his campaign has not lost any steam: "The campaign is doing really well. It's never been so well united," he said.