Trump, magnet for discord and disruption, outdoes himself

The Republican presidential nominee also claimed he's always wanted a Purple Heart, gave an eyebrow-raising response to how his daughter would handle workplace sexual harassment, called his general election opponent "the devil," threatened to undermine the nation's tradition of peaceful democracy by suggesting the election could be rigged and collected a series of bipartisan denouncements that would stagger any other candidate for office.

Trump, famous for never letting a slight go, hit back in an interview over the weekend — including by implying that soldier's mother stood silently alongside her husband during the speech because her religion restricted her from speaking — and then returned to it on social media to start the week.

The back-and-forth between the nominee and the Khans soon escalated, prompting several top Republicans and The Veterans of Foreign Wars, a nonprofit service organization with 1.7 million members, to denounce Trump.

Trump, in Ohio Monday afternoon, suggested that he fears the general election "is going to be rigged" — an unprecedented assertion by a modern presidential candidate.

Trump, in an interview Tuesday, declined to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan, the Republicans' top-ranked official, and Sen. John McCain, its 2008 presidential nominee, in a sharp blow to GOP unity just two weeks after its national convention.

With controversy simmering over his remarks against a military family, Trump opened a rally in northern Virginia by accepting a Purple Heart from an audience member.

In an interview published Monday in USA Today, the nominee continued to defend his friend Roger Ailes, who was ousted from his position as head of Fox News after charges of serial sexual harassment.

Trump was interrupted Tuesday in Virginia by the wails of a child — and the reality TV star joked that he wanted the crying baby ejected from his rally.