Donald Trump's advice to Republican critics: "Please be quiet"
Businessman Donald Trump had a message for Republican leaders: "Just please be quiet. Don't talk."
While closing his speech on Wednesday in Atlanta, Trump was lamenting what he called weakness from his GOP colleagues. Trump made clear that he wasn't going to try to bridge the gap between those in the party that support him and those that don't.
"You know the Republicans, honestly folks... our leaders have to get tougher," Trump said. "This is too tough to do it alone, but you know what I think I'm going to be forced to. I think I'm going to be forced to."
And for his Republican critics, Trump had more to say:
"And be quiet. Just please be quiet. Don't talk. Please be quiet. Just be quiet, to the leaders, because they have to get tougher, they have to get sharper, they have to get smarter."
Party unity is, once again, not a meal on Trump's campaign dinner menu. The comments came right after Larry Hogan, the Republican governor of reliably Democratic Maryland, announced that he would not vote for Trump.
But Trump's comments were ostensibly aimed at House Speaker Paul Ryan, who was extremely critical of Trump's plan to ban Muslims from entering the country and said he would continue to speak out when he disagreed with him. Ryan's office did not directly address Trump's request for silence and referred to his comments earlier in the week.
Trump also continued his searing rhetoric on refugees, Islam and the Muslim ban. Trump said that for refugees, "assimilation has not been exactly a positive factor." He also said that the LGBT community is "so much in favor of what I've been saying over the last three or four days," in response to his comments on the Orlando mass shooting that killed 49 people.
"If you look at what Hillary Clinton has done with women," Trump said, "Number one from certain countries, her foundation has taken millions, tens of millions of dollars from countries that want to enslave women, enslave, want to enslave women. As far as the gay community, they kill gays."
The provocative businessman implied that he might expand the Muslim ban in a speech on Monday in New Hampshire, saying that immigration would be blocked from countries linked to Islamic terror attacks. The campaign did not respond to a request for a clarification as to whether this meant Christians coming from those countries would be banned and what countries that would include.
"I think we need more of a measured response right now and not just do knee jerk," said 57-year-old Mike Cameron, of Rossville, Georgia. "If things progress worse, than you gotta look at everything."
Vietnam veteran Doug Ricker disagreed.
"Well, actually I would say a temporary ban would be probably a prudent thing to do at this point just so we can assess," Ricker said. "I think that that's what Mr. Trump is saying. Give it a chance - let me assess, you know, the security threat to the nation and then we can widen it up. Obviously, there are some great Muslim-Americans in this country. We know that. But I do think we kind of need to take a timeout. You know, most certainly, the answer that Hillary Clinton is offering is not the answer, in my view."
The rally itself was rowdy, with the crowd roaring its approval consistently throughout the speech - and drowning out a number of interruptions from protests. Former presidential candidate, businessman and radio host Herman Cain warmed up the crowd and gave his official endorsement of Trump.
The crowd welcomed Cain with a standing ovation. "Aw, shucky ducky!" Cain said, soaking it in.
Cain was critical of 2012 nominee Mitt Romney for refusing to vote for Trump. In the midst of those comments, someone in the audience yelled that "Romney is a [expletive]."
Georgia is a potentially vulnerable state for Trump, even though he won it in the primary. The last Democrat presidential candidate to win the state was Bill Clinton in 1992. However, an Atlantic-Journal Constitution poll from early May shows Trump only leading by four points.