Hillary Clinton says approached by Republicans fleeing Donald Trump

Washington, May 9: Hillary Clinton says she has been approached by a number of Republicans looking to back her White House campaign, rather than throw their weight behind their party's presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

Speaking to CBS's "Face the Nation" in an interview broadcast on Sunday, Clinton said she was reaching across the aisle to Republicans unwilling to be associated with the billionaire's incendiary White House bid.

"Obviously I'm reaching out to Democrats, Republicans, Independents, all voters who want a candidate who is running a campaign based on issues," said the 69-year-old former secretary of state.

"I am asking people to come join this campaign and I've had a lot of outreach on Republicans in the last days who say that they are interested in talking about that."

Trump has raised howls of protest within his own party with his harsh, free-wheeling speech and proposals ranging from banning Muslims from entering the United States to building a wall on the southern border to keep out Mexican migrants to slashing US funding for NATO so allies pay more.

The nation's top elected Republican official, House Speaker Paul Ryan, has refused to support the presumptive nominee, saying Trump has "work to do" to win over skeptics within his camp.

Several party elders -- including the last two Republican presidents, George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush -- have refused outright to endorse the billionaire.

A group of conservatives opposed to Trump's candidacy meanwhile announced this weekend it had launched a "formal effort" to identify an alternative candidate, though it stopped short of backing a contender from a third party.

PTI