Donald Trump’s election campaign has descended into disarray, with his team tearing their hair out over a particularly bad week of blunders.

Until now the Republican strategy has been to let Trump be Trump.

But this week we may have hit peak eye–rolling, and top Republicans are backing up the Trump truck – many of them refusing to endorse him or worse, backing his Democrat rival.

Even Newt Ginginch, one of Mr Trump’s strongest backers, has warned the candidate he is on course to lose the election.

https://twitter.com/carney/status/760829135606444032

In recent days, in a by no means complete list, we have seen:

• a chaotic Republic convention

• former rival Ted Cruz’s refusal to endorse him 

• his roundly condemned attack on a Muslim war hero’s family 

• a bizarre speech in which he said he loved babies – then ordered it to be removed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEeY8ENxPDw

• he appeared to invite Russian president Vladimir Putin to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails

• he has refused to endorse the re-election campaigns of 2008 Presidential candidate John McCain and speaker Paul Ryan.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post is reporting that Mr Trump had asked about the possibility of using nuclear weapons during a foreign policy briefing earlier this year.

There are 97 days to go before the election. Barack Obama has slammed Trump as being unfit for the Presidency, as no sitting president has ever done.

France’s President Francois Hollande said Trump’s excesses “give those watching a retching feeling”.

Former George W. Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer expressed the sense of bewilderment settling over the political world when he reflected on Trump’s take-no-prisoners political style.

“He is such a good counter puncher that he is knocking himself out,” Fleischer said on CNN’s “New Day.”

“If he would focus on Hillary, if he’d focus on the economy, if he’d talk Obama and we don’t want a third term, he could win this race. He’s hurting himself and hurting the cause.”

One Republican source told CNN that some of Trump’s campaign staff – even his campaign chairman Paul Manafort – feel they are wasting their time.

longtime ally of Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign manager: "Manafort not challenging Trump anymore. Mailing it in. Staff suicidal."

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) August 3, 2016

Manafort insisted that isn’t true, and any frustration centres on the media.

With characteristic “diplomacy”, Trump has laid out the problem for Republicans.

They’re stuck with him, unless they want to throw their lot in with Clinton.

“Even if people don’t like me, they have to vote for me. They have no choice,” he said in Ashburn, Virginia, on Tuesday. “Even if you can’t stand Donald Trump, you think Donald Trump is the worst, you’re going to vote for me.”