House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan, the top US elected Republican, has distanced himself from presidential candidate Donald Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims from a variety of countries in a further sign of establishment unease with Mr Trump’s agenda.
Mr Trump gave his first speech on the Orlando, Florida, massacre on Monday, a day after the attack at a gay nightclub that was the deadliest mass shooting in US modern history.
He said that, if elected, he would temporarily suspend immigration from areas of the world where there is “a proven history of terrorism.”
In a subsequent tweet, he said he was referring to “nations tied to Islamic terror.”
Mr Ryan was peppered with questions about Trump’s proposal at his weekly news conference.
Biased judge
Mr Ryan endorsed Mr Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, two weeks ago but subsequently blasted him for calling a federal judge biased because of the US-born judge’s Mexican heritage.
“I do not think a Muslim ban is in our country’s interests,” said Mr Ryan, who last year criticised Mr Trump’s original proposal for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US.
Mr Ryan said “the smarter way to go” would be to have a “security test” for Middle Eastern immigrants to ensure proper security screening.