The Washington Post’s Jenna Johnson explains what the stakes are for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign following the release by The Post of a 2005 video in which he makes vulgar comments about women. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)
The Republican Party plunged into an epic and historic political crisis Saturday with just a month to go until Election Day, as a rapidly growing number of GOP lawmakers called on defiant presidential nominee Donald Trump to drop out of the race in the wake of a video showing him make crude sexual remarks.
The fallout from the tape published by The Washington Post — in which Trump bragged in obscene language about forcing himself on women sexually — now threatens to endanger the GOP’s hold on both houses of Congress in addition to the White House, which many Republicans now fear is lost for good.
The episode also comes ahead of Sunday’s second presidential debate in St. Louis, which was already a crucial moment in the race but now could help determine how widely the damage spreads for the GOP.
By mid-afternoon Saturday, more than two dozen Republican lawmakers had called on Trump to leave the race in favor of vice presidential nominee Mike Pence. Scores of others, including Trump’s wife, Melania, condemned his remarks while still standing by his candidacy.
But Trump, who offered a qualified apology for the remarks in an overnight video statement while also attacking former president Bill Clinton, told The Post he would not drop out under any circumstances.
Following a Friday report by The Washington Post on a 2005 video of the GOP presidential nominee, various Republicans have said they no longer plan to vote for him and call for him to drop out.
Following a Friday report by The Washington Post on a 2005 video of the GOP presidential nominee, various Republicans have said they no longer plan to vote for him and call for him to drop out.
“I’d never withdraw. I’ve never withdrawn in my life,” Trump said in a Saturday morning phone call from his home in Trump Tower in New York. “No, I’m not quitting this race. I have tremendous support.”
“People are calling and saying, ‘Don’t even think about doing anything else but running,’” Trump said when asked about GOP defections. “You have to see what’s going on. The real story is that people have no idea about the support. I don’t know how that’s going to boil down but people have no idea about the support.”
In the 2005 videotape, Trump boasted in obscene language about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women during a conversation caught on a hot microphone, saying that “when you’re a star, they let you do it. They let you do anything.”
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her allies seized on the video as another in a long line of disqualifying remarks and actions by Trump, and increased their pressure on Republican candidates to disavow their support of him or risk being tied to him on Election Day. Democrats are now openly bullish about the Senate and increasingly optimistic that they could even flip control of the House, which seemed out of reach just a few days ago.
Several Democrats said they believe Trump will come into Sunday’s town-hall-style debate with the mindset of a “wounded animal” — a factor that could make him more dangerous to Clinton and also to himself.
“I’ve never seen a candidate walk into a debate with this much at stake,” said longtime Clinton ally James Carville. “He’s overweight, he’s old, he’s tired and he’s crabby. And he’s going to have a very long hour and a half.”
In the wake of a new Washington Post report showing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaking in very lewd terms about women in 2005, some Republicans are calling for Trump to step down as nominee. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post)
As of Saturday afternoon, the Republican Party’s top leadership — including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and party chairman Reince Priebus — had denounced Trump’s comments but have continued to support him.
In the wake of a new Washington Post report showing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaking in very lewd terms about women in 2005, some Republicans are calling for Trump to step down as nominee. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post)
As of Saturday afternoon, the Republican Party’s top leadership — including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and party chairman Reince Priebus — had denounced Trump’s comments but have continued to support him.
But a growing number of elected lawmakers and other prominent Republicans said they simply cannot vote for Trump given the video. Many said they would like to hand the ticket over the ticket to Pence, but experts said it would be almost impossible logistically for the party to replace its nominee a month from the election.
The list includes the third-highest ranking Republican in the Senate, John Thune of South Dakota, who tweeted on Saturday: “Donald Trump should withdraw and Mike Pence should be our nominee effective immediately.”
The calls for Trump to step aside started Friday night, as Republicans waited and waited for Trump to fully apologize for his comments. The calls first came from those who had already said they wouldn’t vote for Trump or who had avoided taking a stance.
Sen. Mark Kirk (Ill.), who revoked his endorsement of Trump in June, called on Trump to drop out so that the party could “engage rules for emergency replacement.” Sen. Mike Lee (Utah), one of very few Republican senators who never endorsed Trump, called for the nominee to “step aside” and asked conservatives to find a new candidate.
“It’s occurred to me on countless occasions today that if anyone spoke to my wife, my daughter, my mother or any of my five sisters the way Mr. Trump has spoken to women, I wouldn’t hire that person. I wouldn’t hire that person, wouldn’t want to be associated with that person,” Lee said in a video filmed at his home in Utah. “And, I certainly don’t think I would feel comfortable hiring that person to be the leader of the free world.”
On Friday night, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (Utah), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, retracted his endorsement of Trump after discussing the issue with his wife and deciding that Trump’s comments were “intolerable,” although he stopped short of calling for Trump to drop out.
On Saturday morning, the calls increased and began to include some of Trump’s supporters and those from strongly Republican states.
“As disappointed as I’ve been with his antics throughout this campaign, I thought supporting the nominee was the best thing for our country and our party,” Rep. Martha Roby (Ala.) said in a statement. “Now, it is abundantly clear that the best thing for our country and for our party is for Trump to step aside and allow a responsible, respectable Republican to lead the ticket.”
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), who supported Trump but would not endorse him, tweeted on Saturday morning that she would not vote for Trump and would instead write in Pence.
“I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women,” Ayotte said in a statement.
Senators calling for Trump to step aside include Mike Crapo (Idaho), Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.), and members of the House doing the same include Mike Coffman (Colo.), Joe Heck (Nev.), Bradley Byrne (Ala.), Scott Garrett (N.J.), Charlie Dent (Pa.), Chris Stewart (Utah), Fred Upton (Mich.), Ann Wagner (Mo.) and Rodney Davis (Ill.).
Others include former GOP rivals George E. Pataki and Carly Fiorina, former Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr., South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard and conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, who used to defend Trump.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) did not explicitly call on Trump to drop out, but said Saturday he might need to “reexamine his candidacy.”
“As a woman, a mother, and a grandmother to three young girls, I am deeply offended by Mr. Trump’s remarks, and there is no excuse for the disgusting and demeaning language,” she said in a statement. “Women have worked hard to gain the dignity and respect we deserve. The appropriate next step may be for him to reexamine his candidacy.”
Trump was supposed to campaign on Saturday in Wisconsin with Ryan, Priebus and other prominent Republicans, but Ryan rescinded the invitation on Friday. Pence was supposed to go in Trump’s place but decided not do so to give Trump necessary space to navigate the fallout from his statements directly, according to a campaign aide.
Pence avoided questions about Trump’s comments at campaign events on Friday and issued a statement on Saturday that said: “As a husband and father, I was offended by the words and actions described by Donald Trump in the eleven-year-old video released yesterday. I do not condone his remarks and cannot defend them. I am grateful that he has expressed remorse and apologized to the American people.”
In both New Hampshire and Ohio, the GOP chairs signaled there would be no repercussions from the party for any elected officials or others who make a clean break from the nominee.
New Hampshire GOP chair Jennifer Horn issued a statement condemning Trump’s “erratic behavior” and “outrageous comments.” She added, “There will be no repercussions from the party directed at those who choose not to support Donald Trump.
In Ohio, party chair Matt Borges said in an interview that the state party would be “fully supportive” of Sen. Rob Portman, who is running for reelection against former governor Ted Strickland.
“Rob needs to know that we are fully supportive of his campaign,” Borges said in a phone interview. “However he chooses to proceed there will be no ramifications from the state party.”
Trump said in a statement that he planned to spend Saturday preparing for Sunday’s presidential debate with the help of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.) and Priebus, who on Friday said that no one should ever talk about women the way that Trump did in 2005.
On Saturday morning, Trump broke an hours-long silence and tweeted: “Certainly has been an interesting 24 hours!” He tweeted again Saturday afternoon: “The media and establishment want me out of the race so badly - I WILL NEVER DROP OUT OF THE RACE, WILL NEVER LET MY SUPPORTERS DOWN!”
Meanwhile, Trump’s 2005 comments played again and again on cable news, upstaging even a dangerous hurricane. Some of Trump’s surrogates and prominent supporters came to his defense.
Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.), a member of the party leadership who is facing a tough reelection battle, said Saturday that Trump’s comments were “absolutely unacceptable” but he dismissed the idea that Trump could step aside 30 days before the election to make way for another nominee.
“I think that’s an unrealistic solution,” Blunt said. “The devastation of Obamacare, the out-of-control regulators, the foreign policy that our friends don’t trust us, make a third Obama term an unacceptable alternative.”
Asked whether he would vote for Trump, Blunt asked: “Didn’t I just say that?”
Dallas investor Doug Deason dismissed the episode as a manufactured media story.
“It’s just CNN and the press making a big deal out of nothing,” said Dallas investor Doug Deason.
“Anybody who is surprised about that or appalled or shocked is disingenuous. People knew that Trump was like that in those days. There’s probably more of it out there. He’s not like that anymore. He is a changed guy. We are a nation that believes in redemption and second changes, right? I don’t think he’s been that way for a very long time.”
Trump allies dismissed the notion that he would bow out of the race.
“I would be astounded if Trump would ever give up the fight at this point in time,” said Ed Rollins, senior strategist for the pro-Trump Great America PAC, which could see its final tranche of big donations freeze as donors withdraw support or wait to see how things to play out.
“We are in a very precarious place when it comes to raising money,” Rollins said.
Abby Phillip, Dan Balz, Matea Gold, David Weigel and Jose A. DelReal contributed to this report.
