Mark Kirk Calls Donald Trump 'a Malignant Clown,' Tells Him to Drop Out of Presidential Race

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk used Donald Trump's preferred personal attack delivery system, Twitter, on Friday to call the Republican presidential candidate "a malignant clown" and that he should drop out of the race.

But this latest patch of shade isn't simply a continuation of the very public sniping the politicians have been embroiled in since Kirk became one of the first Republican lawmakers to withdraw support from Trump over the summer. With his online remarks, the senator joins the chorus of other GOP members condemning Trump for vulgar, sexual remarks he made about women in a recorded conversation from 2005 leaked Friday.

"I am sickened by what I heard today," said Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who revealed Trump would no longer be attending a rally with the congressman Saturday in Wisconsin. "Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified. I hope Mr. Trump treats this situation with the seriousness it deserves and works to demonstrate to the country that he has greater respect for women than this clip suggests."

This past summer, Kirk and Trump routinely put each other on blast after Kirk withdrew his support from the New York billionaire's presidential run in June. That same month, Kirk, in a radio interview, said Trump was "too bigoted and racist" for Illinois voters. Not one to let someone else have the last word in a good, old-fashioned, honest-to-gosh, rootin'-tootin' name-calling contest, Trump branded Kirk a loser during a closed-door meeting with Senate GOP leaders in July.

RELATED: Graphic Donald Trump Audio: When You're a Star You Can Do Anything to Women

Ironically, Kirk's online invectives Friday come a day after Trump criticized the incumbent senator's re-election efforts during a town hall-style event Thursday in New Hampshire, according to the Chicago Tribune. During the event, Trump said Kirk's hotly contested campaign against Democratic opponent Tammy Duckworth was "not doing so well" and shrugged off his poor performance by saying, "That's his problem."

Now, it appears Trump's campaign is not doing so well. And that's his problem.

photo via Patch archive

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