DHAKA: Fresh divisions are emerging within the US Republican Party over its presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Republican donor Meg Whitman has endorsed his rival Hillary Clinton, saying Trump’s ‘demagoguery’ had undermined the national fabric.

Senior party activist Jan Halper-Hayes told the BBC she thought Trump was ‘psychologically unbalanced’.

In the latest controversy, Trump has refused to support two senior figures in his own party.

In an interview for the Washington Post, he said he was ‘just not quite there yet’ when asked if he would endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator John McCain, who are up for re-election in November. Both men have publicly criticized him.

Trump’s campaign has been marked by a series of controversial statements.

Whitman, writing on Facebook, said that to vote Republican out of party loyalty alone “would be to endorse a candidacy that I believe has exploited anger, grievance, xenophobia and racial division”.

“Trump’s unsteady hand would endanger our prosperity and national security. His authoritarian character could threaten much more,” the Hewlett-Packard executive said.

BDST: 2132 HRS, AUG 03, 2016
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