Donald Trump has had a wild week — and it’s only Wednesday

It has been a wild week of controversy for Republican nominee Donald Trump, with the business mogul seemingly moving from one firestorm to another in the postconvention fray.

The bizarre week began with a Trump interview that aired Sunday on ABC. Trump started pushing back against Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq. In a speech last week at the Democratic National Convention, Khan said that Trump had “sacrificed nothing and no one” and that his policies, such as a ban on Muslims entering the U.S., made him unfit to be president.

Trump did not back down from the criticism, arguing to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he had sacrificed through business success. He doubled down on his comments later in the day, arguing that Khan did not know him and “has no right” to question his knowledge of the Constitution.

The GOP candidate’s most provocative comment about Khan, however, came in a pair of jabs in which he questioned why Khan’s wife was silent during the DNC speech — implying that a strict adherence to Islam was to blame.

Trump also said in the ABC interview that Russian President Vladimir Putin “Is not going into Ukraine,” a statement that apparently overlooked the fact that Russia moved armed troops into the Crimean Peninsula and annexed the region in 2014.
Trump clarified his position the next day on Twitter.

It was Trump’s various statements about Khan that led to Republican leaders — including House Speaker Paul Ryan — to quickly distance themselves from their own party’s nominee. Arizona Sen. John McCain, the GOP nominee in 2008 who has stated his support for Trump, issued a particularly passionate denunciation of Trump’s comments.

“In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen soldier’s parents. He has suggested that the likes of their son should not be allowed in the United States — to say nothing of entering its service,” McCain said in a statement. “I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump’s statement. I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers, or candidates.”

Other Republicans went further and announced that they would break with the party and vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

On Monday, former Jeb Bush adviser Sally Bradshaw said Monday she would vote for Clinton if her home state of Florida were close on Election Day. On Tuesday, Rep. Richard Hanna, R-N.Y., became the first elected official to endorse Clinton. Also on Tuesday, Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman and longtime Chris Christie aide Maria Comella said they would support Clinton over Trump.

President Obama on Tuesday also joined the chorus of voices calling on leading Republicans to distance themselves from Trump.

“The question [Republicans] have to ask themselves is: If you are repeatedly having to say in very strong terms that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him?” Obama said at a press conference. “What does this say about your party that this is your standard-bearer?”

Less than an hour later, Trump was making headlines again. At a rally in suburban Virginia, Trump was given a copy of a veteran supporter’s Purple Heart and joked that he had always wanted the medal — which is given to wounded U.S. military personnel and not something most people desire.

Trump also earned a round of high-profile headlines by jokingly ejecting a baby from the event after it cried repeatedly during his remarks.

But Trump wasn’t done stirring the pot there. Late on Tuesday, the Washington Post published an interview with Trump in which he pointedly declined to endorse either Ryan or McCain in their upcoming GOP primary races.

“I like Paul, but these are horrible times for our country,” Trump said, echoing the language Ryan used before endorsing his own candidacy. “We need very strong leadership. We need very, very strong leadership. And I’m just not quite there yet. I’m not quite there yet.”

Trump gave a shout-out to Ryan’s primary opponent the day before:

In his Washington Post interview, Trump also criticized McCain and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., who had also issued a statement blasting Trump’s criticism of Khizr Khan. He argued that McCain, a former POW, was weak on veterans’ issues and that Ayotte was weak and disloyal.

On Tuesday night, Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson said on television that Obama and Clinton were “probably” to blame for the 2004 death of Khan’s son in the Iraq War — despite the fact that neither was in office then. She walked back that claim in another interview Wednesday morning.

Trump also generated controversy this week by directly predicting that the November election would be “rigged” against him. He said at a Monday rally, “I’m afraid the election is going be rigged, I have to be honest.” Later that day, he added on Fox News: “I’m telling you, Nov. 8, we better be careful, because that election is going to be rigged.”

The overall maelstrom apparently led to reports that the Trump campaign is reeling from the week’s events, with some staff members reportedly telling CNN’s Dana Bash that they “feel like they are wasting their time.” The CNN story, published Wednesday morning, was joined by other reports, one from ABC News indicating that senior GOP officials are exploring their options if Trump were to drop out.

And the week is only half over.