DHAKA: US House Speaker Paul Ryan has said he cannot currently support Donald Trump as Republican presidential nominee.

Ryan, the highest-ranked elected Republican, called for Trump to strive for ‘higher aspirations’.

Trump, he said, ‘deserved’ the nomination but must do more to unite the party.

Former presidents George W Bush and George HW Bush also said on Thursday they will not endorse the controversial presumptive nominee.

‘I think what a lot of Republicans want to see is that we have a standard bearer that bears our standards,’ Ryan told CNN, reports the BBC.

There has been persistent speculation that Ryan, the 2012 vice-presidential nominee alongside Mitt Romney, may make a last-minute run for the top job.

But he has frequently sought to dispel those claims and did so again on Thursday.

In December 2015, Ryan harshly criticized Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US.

He said it was ‘not what this party stands for and more importantly it’s not what this country stands for’.

Although several senior Republicans like Romney have already voiced their objection to the nominee, Ryan is the highest ranked to do so.

Protests have plagued appearances by Trump, with particular focus on his plan to build a wall on the Mexican border and deport 11 million undocumented immigrants.

BDST: 0445 HRS, MAY 06, 2016
RR