GREEN BAY, Wisc. — Donald Trump’s campaign said Friday it barred House Speaker Paul Ryan’s primary challenger Paul Nehlen from entering the candidate’s Wisconsin rally because the candidate didn’t show a ticket, refuting Nehlen’s charges that the Wisconsin Republican Party was working to keep him away.
It’s another setback for Nehlen’s long-shot bid, which briefly gained some momentum this week when Trump praised his campaign while refusing to endorse Ryan in an interview with the Washington Post.
But by Friday, the latest spat between Trump and Ryan seemed to be over — and Ryan headed toward an easy primary win — when Trump endorsed the Speaker at a Green Bay rally.
Nehlen tried to attend the rally as a spectator, but told reporters after a Saturday-afternoon rally in Kenosha, that he was barred entry by the state party in an attempt to keep him out of the public eye.
“The Wisconsin GOP is doing everything they can to keep my name out of anywhere. They don’t want their own constituents to know that, that there’s an option out there. They want Speaker Ryan to be the only game in town. That’s how the Wisconsin machine works,” Nehlen told NBC News in an interview.
But a Wisconsin GOP staffer pushed back Nehlen’s comments, telling NBC News that the Wisconsin GOP staff at the rally were acting as volunteers, and only the Trump campaign had the discretion to decide who to bar from entering the rally. And Trump Campaign Communications Director Jason Miller said that it was the campaign’s decision to turn Nehlen away from the Green Bay rally.