‘Winter is coming for the Republican Party’: Ohio Dem warns Trump leading GOP into ‘bloody civil war’

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) warned his Republican colleagues that President Donald Trump was leading them to possible electoral doom by threatening to back challengers in next year's GOP primaries.

"From our standpoint, it's pretty embarrassing that no one will stand up to the guy," Ryan told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "They really have the tiger by the ears here, you know -- they're screwed if they let go and they're screwed if they hold on."

The Ohio Democrat said he used to believe that metaphorical tiger was the Tea Party, but now it's Trump.

"If he gets out and he supports other candidates in primaries against Republicans, that's going to be a very expensive, bloody, costly civil war within the Republican Party," Ryan said. "So I think they're all hesitant to take him on, so they kind of soft step him and try to work with them to the best they can, even though I think --

not to be too judgmental about it -- they're embarrassing themselves when they try to deal with this guy because he can't be dealt with."

Ryan faulted House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for remaining "silent on some of the deepest moral issues facing our country."

"The president is consistently demeaning the office of the presidency of the United States, and I think that blowback is going to affect the Republicans," Ryan said. "I mean, President Trump pretty much won as an independent candidate. He was a Republican in name, but he was an independent candidate, which is why he drew so many Democrats who were willing to take a risk on Donald Trump."

Although the GOP controls the White House and both houses of Congress, along with a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, the Democratic lawmaker and potential presidential candidate warned their power was fleeting.

"The Republican Party is deeply troubled right now," Ryan said. "They have a lot of big fissures to try to deal with or just move on. I think winter is coming for the Republican Party."