WASHINGTON -- The "shackles" gone, Donald Trump stepped up his fierce attacks on his own party leaders Tuesday, promising to teach Republicans who oppose him a lesson and to fight for the presidency "the way I want to."
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"I'm just tired of nonsupport" from leaders of the party he represents on the presidential ticket, Trump said Tuesday evening on Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor. He saved special ire for House Speaker Paul Ryan, who told Republicans Monday -- with four weeks to go before Election Day -- that he'll no longer campaign for Trump.
"I don't want his support; I don't care about his support," Trump said.
After a rocky weekend, the businessman reverted to the combative strategy that propelled him to victory in the GOP primary. Those close to Trump suggested it was "open season" on every detractor, regardless of party.
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"It is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to," Trump said in a tweet.
In a series of tweets, the Republican nominee called House Speaker Paul Ryan "weak and ineffective," Sen. John McCain "very foul-mouthed," and "disloyal" Republicans "far more difficult than Crooked Hillary," referring to the Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton.
"They come at you from all sides," Trump declared. "They don't know how to win -- I will teach them!"
His new approach comes days after the release of a video recording from 2005 in which he makes several vulgar comments about women.
Trump on Tuesday complained about Republican defections and an election system that may be "rigged" against him. On Monday, he warned of potential voter fraud in Philadelphia's majority-black neighborhoods, a claim for which there is no evidence but one that could challenge Americans' faith in a fair democratic process.
At least 40 Republican senators and congressmen have withdrawn their support for the Republican nominee -- with nearly 30 of them urging him to quit the race altogether.
Ryan, R-Wis., in a Monday conference call with congressional Republicans, said he would no longer campaign with Trump. He said he would focus instead on ensuring Clinton doesn't get a "blank check" if she wins by keeping his party in control of Congress.
Many House Republicans worry that Trump is damaging their party's ability to retain control of the Senate and to keep their sizable majority in the House.
"It will be very difficult for Trump to win," said Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, a leader of House Republican centrists. He told his colleagues on the Monday conference call that it was time to distance the party from Trump.
Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa said Tuesday that Ryan has only increased the chances that Clinton will win the presidency.
"If we let him sink, we'll all sink with him," King said in a radio interview, adding that the party might be forced to rebuild after this election, and that the establishment wing "could simply be amputated out."
RNC backs Trump
Trump continued to have the backing of Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, and its top fundraisers. As long as he's receiving campaign cash from the RNC, he can continue to pay for television ads and get-out-the-vote operations.
A few Republicans openly cheered on Trump's new approach.
"Sometimes I wonder that our Constitution is not only broken," Maine Gov. Paul LePage told a Maine radio station, according to NBC News, "but we need a Donald Trump to show some authoritarian power in our country and bring back the rule of law because we've had eight years of a president -- he's an autocrat, he just does it on his own, he ignores Congress and every single day, we're slipping into anarchy."
Other prominent Republicans made clear that they're still backing Trump, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who lost to Trump in the GOP presidential primary.
"I wish we had better choices for president," he said Tuesday in a statement. "But I do not want Hillary Clinton to be our next president. And therefore my position has not changed."
And Trump's aggressive shift is popular among his most loyal supporters who continue to flock to his rallies by the thousands.
"He's fighting for us," said Megan Johnston, 54, who was among an estimated 2,000 people who packed into a high school gym to see him Monday near Pittsburgh. She shrugged off his lewd comments in the 2005 video and pointed at Clinton's shortcomings.
"He said what he said and he apologized. She should be in jail," Johnston said.
At a rally in Newton, Iowa, Trump's running mate Mike Pence received multiple standing ovations and was thanked at one point for sticking with Trump.
"You ... just got my respect for not jumping and bailing out on Donald Trump," the questioner said.
Another woman told Pence she was concerned about widespread voter fraud and warned that, if Clinton wins, "I am ready for a revolution."
"Don't say that," the vice presidential nominee responded.
Gore works Florida
As the GOP battled itself, Clinton focused on climate change in swing state Florida alongside former Vice President Al Gore.
Gore, whose 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth focused on global warming, said Clinton would "make solving the climate crisis a top national priority."
"The choice in this election is extremely clear. Hillary Clinton will make solving the climate crisis a top national priority," Gore said. "Her opponent, based on the ideas that he has presented, would take us toward a climate catastrophe."
Gore's history with Florida, the ultimate swing state, lent extra weight to his appeal to get out and vote. Gore won the popular vote in the 2000 presidential election but lost the presidency to George W. Bush after a lengthy Florida recount that added terms like "hanging chad" and "butterfly ballot" to the national discourse.
"Your vote really, really, really counts," he told the crowd.
Clinton, meanwhile, vigorously emphasized her plans to develop more clean energy, reduce fossil fuel dependence and build more weather-resistant infrastructure. She also continued her attacks on Trump, who has called climate change a "hoax" and said he would renegotiate the Paris Climate Agreement, an international treaty designed to curb the rise in global temperatures.
"We cannot risk putting a climate denier in the White House," Clinton said.
The world is on pace for the hottest year on record, breaking marks set in 2015, 2014, and 2010. It is about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than a century ago. Scientists have also connected man-made climate change to deadly heat waves, droughts and flood-inducing downpours.
More email posted
Meanwhile, WikiLeaks posted almost 1,200 more emails Tuesday that it said were hacked from the personal account of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, including one showing a Clinton ally seeking to enlist supporters to squelch dissent from a leading liberal group.
In a 2014 email, longtime Clinton aide Philippe Reines is seen reacting to a news report that MoveOn.org was preparing to spend $1 million to draft Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts into the presidential race.
"Making noise is one thing," Reines wrote to John Podesta, who's now chairman of Clinton's campaign, according to the WikiLeaks release. "Spending seven figures is another. [Clinton] voted for the war, you punished her already, get over it. I don't know who funds them, but don't we have Hollywood friends with ties to MoveOn who can tell them to cool it?"
Reines, who advises Clinton but isn't formally working on her White House bid, didn't respond to calls and emails seeking comment Tuesday. MoveOn.org had no comment.
The Clinton campaign has blamed the leaks of Democratic groups' documents on Russia -- as have U.S. intelligence agencies -- and has refused to confirm the authenticity of the emails. More than 5,300 purported messages to and from Podesta's email account have been posted since Friday.
In another development, the Republican National Committee released State Department communications with the Clinton Foundation about relief for Haiti after a devastating earthquake in January 2010, seeking to build the case that the family charity and its contributors received special treatment while Clinton was secretary of state.
The documents, secured under the Freedom of Information Act, show a State Department employee telling a foundation staff member that he needs "to flag when people are friends of wjc," Bill Clinton's initials, when sending along offers to help in the relief effort.
In one message, the State Department employee, Caitlin Klevorick, tells Ami Desai, the foundation's director of foreign policy, that someone who is "Not FOB" -- "friend of Bill" -- can go through the government website for the Center for International Disaster Information.
John Kirby, a State Department spokesman, said Tuesday that the department "found no evidence that preferential treatment was given to any particularly organization or entities."
A Clinton campaign spokesman didn't respond to request for comment on the documents about Haiti relief.
NBC to shed Bush
Separately, Billy Bush, the co-host of NBC's Today show who was recorded with Trump in the video from 2005, is in negotiations to exit NBC News, according to people familiar with the discussions.
An NBC News representative declined to comment.
In the tape, made while Bush was co-host of NBC's Access Hollywood, Trump boasts about his ability to grope women with impunity because he is a celebrity. Bush is heard chuckling and encouraging Trump.
Bush, 44, issued an apology for his behavior, saying he was "younger, less mature and acted foolishly in playing along."
NBC News has said Bush was off the air pending "further review." The company was said to be looking into his past behavior as an NBC employee.
Bush, the nephew of former President George H.W. Bush and the cousin of former President George W. Bush and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, joined NBC News's Today in August.
Information for this article was contributed by Steve Peoples, Jonathan Lemire, Jill Colvin, Eric Tucker, Kathleen Hennessey, Catherine Lucey, Stephen Braun and Bradley Klapper of The Associated Press; by Billy House, Ben Brody, Steven T. Dennis and Sahil Kapur, Margaret Talev of Bloomberg News; and by Stephen Battaglio of the Los Angeles Times.
A Section on 10/12/2016