WASHINGTON — He’s promised Republican insiders that he would change his image and appear more presidential. So when Donald Trump spoke at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., this week, he asked for a moment of silence to honor the Orlando shooting victims.
But even while reading from a teleprompter, Trump issued a blistering diatribe aimed at Muslims, the Obama administration, and anyone he perceived to be “politically correct.’’ A few hours earlier, in a TV interview, he coyly implied President Obama might somehow be complicit in the terror attack.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Trump’s refusal to change his tone and style — even in a moment of national crisis — is triggering fresh waves of anxiety among some Republicans worried that the party’s presumptive nominee is on the verge of handing the election to Hillary Clinton.
“When I saw the teleprompters I didn’t know whether to be happy or sad — more relieved because it cuts down on the chance of him saying something completely outrageous,’’ said Fergus Cullen, former New Hampshire GOP chairman. “His natural tendency is to say something potentially indefensible, and he still managed to do that, tripling down on this ban on Muslims.’’
Trump gave Obama plenty of fodder to go after him and his proposal to ban Muslims from immigrating to the United States on Tuesday.
Obama slammed both aggressively following a meeting with his National Security Council focused on the Islamic State.
“We are now seeing how dangerous this kind of mindset and this kind of thinking can be,’’ Obama said. “We’re starting to see where this kind of rhetoric and loose talk and sloppiness about who exactly we’re fighting, where this can lead us.’’
Trump’s campaign says it is sticking with what’s worked thus far.
But the approach is showing signs of strain as the anniversary of his campaign kick off approaches on Thursday, with a sharp decline in the polls and a Republican establishment that continues to wrestle with its own conscience over the GOP nominee.
House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday also repudiated Trump’s call for a Muslim ban, telling reporters on Capitol Hill that such a move would not be “in our country’s interest.’’
“It’s not reflective of our principles not just as a party but as a country,’’ Ryan said. “This is a war with radical Islam. It’s not a war with Islam. Muslims are our partners.’’
Other Republicans also tried to distance themselves from Trump.
‘‘Mr. Trump seems to be suggesting that the president is one of them, I find that highly offensive, I find that whole line of reasoning way off-base,’’ said Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who was quoted by the Associated Press. ‘‘Mr. Trump’s reaction to declare war on the faith is the worst possible solution.’’
GOP Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois told the AP that Trump’s comments could be used to radicalize uneducated Muslims.
‘‘I guess I appreciate Mr. Trump’s fieriness in talking about it, and strength, but you don’t do it by alienating the very people we need and those are moderate Muslims,’’ said Kinzinger. ‘‘To use religion as a test, to say we’re going to discriminate against all Muslims is so counterproductive it really almost doesn’t deserve being talked about.’’
This is the second week in a row that Republican lawmakers have been asked to respond to Trump’s tirades. Several rescinded their endorsements of Trump following his claims that a federal judge could not be fair in a civil fraud case against Trump University because of his Mexican heritage.
“This would be a good time for him and his team to hit the reset button,’’ said David Oman, former cochairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, who lead Mitt Romney’s Iowa campaign four years ago.
“It’s unsettling, Trump’s temperament, style, rhetoric, and persona,’’ Oman said. “Perhaps he needs to take a time out and look at the state of play. The primaries and caucuses are over. General elections are won in the middle.’’
A Bloomberg poll of voters nationwide released Tuesday showed Clinton has opened a 12-point lead over Trump. A weekly NBC tracking poll found a 7-point margin for Clinton and showed her picking up support among moderates, men, and white voters.
Nonpartisan election watchers expect Trump’s support to be limited if he does not quickly broaden his appeal.
His “obsession with conspiracy theories’’ — from skepticism surrounding Justice Antonin Scalia’s death to his latest insinuations about Obama — will seem “nutty’’ to most voters, said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Sabato expressed surprise that Trump had not changed his demeanor to be more presidential now that he is in the general election campaign.“I just cannot believe he has not pivoted. Everyone expected him to pivot. I don’t think he understands what pivoting is,’’ Sabato said.
Even his supporters want him to dial it down.
“Donald Trump is a trash talker. You had Low Energy Jeb, Lying Ted, Little Marco — and he knocked out his opponents one by one just like he would in a boxing ring. But I just want him to understand where he is right now is not where he was in the primary,’’ said Tracey Winbush, a conservative talk radio host in Ohio and member of Ohio’s Republican central committee who has endorsed Trump.
Dave Carney, a Republican consultant from New Hampshire, brushed off Trump’s attack on the president as simply Trump being Trump.
“In this cycle we’ve learned that nothing’s out of bounds,’’ Carney said. “He’s a master showman. That’s his provocative way to draw attention to him being tough. When the world is falling apart in the land of Disney World, people are looking for strong leadership.’’
John McLaughlin, a Republican pollster now working for Trump in New York, said Trump will appeal to voters disillusioned by the government when it comes to jobs and security.
“There’s a brash honesty to who he is, and I think people respect that,’’ McLaughlin said. “Right now people don’t feel like they’re being told the truth and his blunt style serves him well because people don’t trust the government.’’
McLaughlin said voters could expect to hear Trump highlighting more policy contrasts between himself and Clinton.
“During the nomination process he did what he needed to win, and he’ll do what he needs to do to win in November,’’ he said.
He would not elaborate on what that entails.
Hope Hicks, Trump’s campaign spokeswoman, said in a statement that he would continue his “tough tone’’ and be “a genuine and honest voice for the people.’’ Trump, she said, “has become the greatest phenomenon in the history of politics.’’
Tracy Jan can be reached at tracy.jan@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @TracyJan.
