GOP senator: ‘Let Trump be Trump’

Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) is going to bat for Donald Trump, arguing it’s time for the “Washington establishment” to rally behind the party’s presumptive nominee.  

“It is time for an outsider in the White House. It is time to let Trump be Trump, and to help him win this election,” the freshman GOP senator wrote in a Washington Post op-ed published on Wednesday. 

{mosads}Perdue, who compared his 2014 Senate race to Trump’s ascension as an “outsider” presidential candidate, said there is a “small enclave of career politicians within our party … still struggling to understand the mass appeal” of Trump. 

“While unpredictability shakes those conditioned to protect their own power, anyone who still has doubts about Mr. Trump should stop agonizing for a minute, take a deep breath, and at least contemplate the value of having such a unique asset at the top of our ticket,” the Georgia Republican wrote. 

Perdue’s comments come as Trump’s status as the GOP’s standard-bearer has split the party. 

While Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he will support the billionaire, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has so far refused to endorse Trump. 

His decision to stay on the sidelines has divided Republicans in the upper chamber. 

Some GOP senators — including Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican — have downplayed the Ryan-Trump split, saying things are moving in the right direction. 

Others, including Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), have knocked Ryan over his stance.

Perdue added Wednesday that Republicans should “not lose site of our shared mission to change the direction of our country.” 

“That’s why we worked so hard to win the Senate majority in 2014. To affect real change, we must keep the Senate majority and win the White House in November,” he wrote.

Republicans are defending 24 Senate seats in November, including in a handful of states previously carried by President Obama.