Three dozen Republicans have now called for Donald Trump to drop out!
Trump declares war on the Republican Party four weeks before the election.
Almost nobody in the Republican Party is defending Donald Trump right now, in the wake of a new Washington Post report showing him speaking in very lewd terms about women in 2005.
And the denunciations that have rolled in so far are coming from all sides of the party — from those who support Trump to those who have long opposed him to those close to him who are offering platitudes about how what he said was wrong, but that he's still better than Hillary Clinton. A growing number of them are even calling for him to end his campaign.
Below, the five emerging categories of Trump critics, along with his few defenders:
Trump should step aside (36)
1) Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, who had previously backed Trump:
"In a campaign cycle that has been nothing but a race to the bottom — at such a critical moment for our nation — and with so many who have tried to be respectful of a record primary vote, the time has come for Governor Pence to lead the ticket," Huntsman told the Salt Lake Tribune.
2) Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), a longtime Trump critic, echoed the call:
3) Former Iowa Republican Party chairman A.J. Spiker:
4) Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a longtime Trump critic but someone Trump put on his list of potential Supreme Court nominees:
"I respectfully ask you, with all due respect, to step aside," he said in a Facebook video. "Step down. Allow someone else to carry the banner of [conservative] principles."
Mike Lee releases statement on Trump's vulgar comments on women
Sen. Mike Lee reacts to revelations that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump bragged about groping women in a 2005 video. (Mike Lee for U.S. Senate)
5) Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), a Trump opponent who is an underdog in his reelection bid this year:
6) Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), a former Trump supporter:
7) Former New York governor George Pataki, who ran for president against Trump:
8) Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, a former Trump defender:
9) Former GOP primary rival Carly Fiorina:
10) Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) didn't officially 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."
11) Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), who represents a Denver-area swing district:
“For the good of the country, and to give the Republicans a chance of defeating Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump should step aside. His defeat at this point seems almost certain. And four years of Hillary Clinton is not what is best for this country. Mr. Trump should put the country first and do the right thing.”
12) Rep. Joe Heck, the GOP nominee for Senate in Nevada:
13) Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.):
"It is now clear Donald Trump is not fit to be President of the United States and cannot defeat Hillary Clinton. I believe he should step aside and allow Governor Pence to lead the Republican ticket."
14) Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), another longtime Trump critic:
15) Former John McCain staffer Jeff Weaver, who said Trump isn't the only one who should step down — that VP pick Mike Pence should too:
16) Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), who faces a tough reelection bid:
17) Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.):
18) Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.):
19) Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), a moderate and a Trump critic:
20) Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah):
"I'm incredibly disappointed in our party's candidate. And unlike the Democrats who have proven completely unwilling to hold secretary Clinton accountable for her illegal activities that endangered our national security, I am willing to hold Mr. Trump accountable. I am therefore calling for him to step aside and to allow Mike Pence to lead our party."
21) South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard:
22) Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.):
23) Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), a former co-chair of the RNC:
"I have committed my short time in Congress to fighting for the most vulnerable in our society. As a strong and vocal advocate for victims of sex trafficking and assault, I must be true to those survivors and myself and condemn the predatory and reprehensible comments of Donald Trump. I withdraw my endorsement and call for Governor Pence to take the lead so we can defeat Hillary Clinton."
24) Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.):
"The abhorrent comments made by Donald Trump are inexcusable and go directly against what I've been doing in Washington to combat assaults on college campuses. Because of this, I am rescinding my support for Donald Trump and asking to have my name removed from his agriculture advisory committee. With the terrible options America has right now, I cannot cast my vote for any of the candidates, so I hope Donald Trump withdraws from the race so the American people can elect Mike Pence as our next president."
25) Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska):
26) Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska):
27) Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.):
28) Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.),who faces a difficult reelection bid:
"In light of these comments, Donald Trump should step aside and allow our party to replace him with Mike Pence or another appropriate nominee from the Republican Party. I cannot in good conscience vote for Donald Trump and I would never vote for Hillary Clinton.”
29) Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.):
30) Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.):
31) Rep. Will Hurd (R-Tex.), who faces a tough reelection race:
“I never endorsed Trump and I cannot in good conscience support or vote for a man who degrades women, insults minorities and has no clear path to keep our country safe. He should step aside for a true conservative to beat Hillary Clinton.”
32) Former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice:
"Enough! Donald Trump should not be President. He should withdraw."
33) Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.):
34) Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.):
"I think Trump should think seriously about doing so. In my mind, he should. His comments cannot be justified and crosses every line you can imagine."
35) Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtninen (R-Fla.):
"Trump doesn't represent our nation. I was not with Trump before and I'm not with him now. Trump must withdraw."
36) Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, who hadn't endorsed Trump:
Withdrawing support, but not calling on him to drop out (10)
1) Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert, who has defended Trump's comments in the past and said he would support him:
2) Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah):
3) Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) had long said Trump had her support, though not her endorsement. As of Saturday, he had neither — the vulnerable Senate incumbent said she'd be writing in Mike Pence's name instead:
4) Rep. Cresent Hardy (R-Nev.), who faces a tough reelection bid:
5) Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.):
6) Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.):
"Cindy and I will not vote for Donald Trump. I have never voted for a Democratic presidential candidate, and we will not vote for Hillary Clinton. We will write in the name of some good conservative Republican who is qualified to be president."
7) Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio):
8) Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley:
“I endorsed Gov. John Kasich for president, because I felt like he was the most qualified and the best person to lead our nation. I certainly won’t vote for Hillary Clinton, but I cannot and will not vote for Donald Trump.”
9) Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.):
“I will not be voting for him.”
10) Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.):
“I cannot support and will not vote for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton to be president of the United States. I will write in Gov. Mike Pence for president."
Criticizing, but not withdrawing their support (18)
1) House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), who was due to appear with Trump on Saturday in Wisconsin and said that would no longer be the case:
“I am sickened by what I heard today. 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. In the meantime, he is no longer attending tomorrow’s event in Wisconsin.”
2) RNC Chair Reince Priebus:
"No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. Ever.”
3) Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker:
4) Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.):
5) Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who endorsed Trump after the GOP primary:
6) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.):
"As the father of three daughters, I strongly believe that Trump needs to apologize directly to women and girls everywhere, and take full responsibility for the utter lack of respect for women shown in his comments on that tape."
7) Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.):
"I have said before that I would not hesitate to voice my disagreement with Mr. Trump when he says something that I believe should not be part of our political dialogue. It is never appropriate to condone unwanted sexual advances or violence against women. Mr. Trump must realize that it has no place in public or private conversations today or in the past."
8) Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa):
9) Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.):
10) Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.):
11) Rep. Todd Young (R-Ind.), the GOP nominee for Senate in Indiana:
"I think Donald Trump's terrible comments were beyond offensive. "
12) Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), who is facing a tougher than expected reelection bid, called the comments "disrespectful and and inappropriate" but will still vote for him:
13) Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.):
"These comments are obviously very inappropriate and offensive and his apology was absolutely necessary."
14) Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa):
15) Rep. John Fleming, a GOP candidate in the open Louisiana Senate race:
16) Rep. Charles Boustany, who is also a GOP Senate candidate in Louisiana:
17) Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who faces a contested race:
18) Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who isn't quite calling for Trump to drop out yet:
"Donald doesn’t have much choice at this point: he needs to throw himself on the mercy of the American people tomorrow night. He needs to take full responsibility for his words and his behavior, he needs to beg their forgiveness, and he needs to pledge to finally change has ways.
"If he doesn’t do those things, if he won’t do those things, then he should step aside and allow the Republican Party to replace him with an elder statesman who will."
Trump opponents going after him — hard
Mitt Romney leads the way here. The 2012 GOP nominee has spoken out against Trump forcefully, and he offered one of the most full-throated statements against him on Friday night:
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who lost the GOP primary to Trump earlier this year and has declined to back him:
Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo, who is defending a swing district in November:
Trump surrogates trying to change the subject
Pence didn't directly address the new video during a rally Friday night, and efforts to get him to respond drew no response:
Pence said at the rally that Trump "gets it," is the "genuine article" and that he would be a president who "respects all the American people."
Pence dodges questions on Trump's remarks about women.
Mike Pence avoided questions about running mate Donald Trump's vulgar comments about women during a campaign stop in Ohio. (The Washington Post)
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who is now a CNN contributor:
"Clearly this is not how women should be spoken about,”Lewandowski said. He continued: “We are electing a leader for the free world, we’re not electing a Sunday school teacher. ... What we know about Donald Trump — this is 12 years ago, this audiotape. It does not reflect or bring to mind the Donald Trump I spent 18 months with traveling. I never heard anything like this out of him."
New Trump surrogate A.J. Delgado:
And lastly: The few Trump defenders
Faith and Freedom Coalition head Ralph Reed, to BuzzFeed:
"Voters of faith are voting on issues like who will protect unborn life, defend religious freedom, create jobs, and oppose the Iran nuclear deal. Ten-year-old tapes of private conversation with a television talk show host rank very low on their hierarchy of concerns."
Family Research Council head Tony Perkins, also to BuzzFeed:
“My personal support for Donald Trump has never been based upon shared values, it is based upon shared concerns about issues such as: justices on the Supreme Court that ignore the constitution, America’s continued vulnerability to Islamic terrorists and the systematic attack on religious liberty that we’ve seen in the last 7 1/2 years."
Donald Trump releases statement about vulgar 2005 recording
Donald Trump released a video statement saying comments from a 2005 video in which he bragged about groping women emerged. (Donald J. Trump)
Trump's Virginia campaign chair Corey Stewart:
"When people voted for Donald Trump, they knew he wasn’t an angel," Stewart told the Post. "They are not concerned that at times, Donald Trump acts like a frat boy. Sometimes he does, but that’s okay. They know he’s not an angel. They know that he can save the country, though. ... When Bill Clinton did all those horrible things, people still supported him afterward because they know that that is of secondary importance. They want someone who’s going to bring jobs back."
Former congressman Jack Kingston (R-Ga.):
"If this conversation had happened yesterday or, you know, a year ago, it would be one thing," he said on MSNBC, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "But 10 years ago, in the context of Hollywood – it doesn’t make it right, not at all – but in the same hand, putting it in context, 10 years ago, in a private conversation. It’s a little different than a public policy statement."
The chair of the Washington state Republican Party, Susan Hutchison, even pointed out that Trump was a Democrat when he made the comments:
Here are some of the Republicans who cut ties with Trump after lewd remarks
Donald Trump is blowing up the Republican Party.
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 some call for him to drop out.
It's less than a month till Election Day. Catch up with the race.
Donald Trump takes to Twitter to turn against the Republican party
Trump's campaign, seems to be adopting a strategy of full-on attack against everyone who doesn't see the world as he does -- including Republicans. Trump is effectively turning the guns on his own troops, a move that might be personally satisfying to him but that will result in near-certain carnage for lots of Republicans.
A new NBC-Wall Street Journal poll released on Monday shows Clinton leading Trump in a four-way contest by 11 points with likely voters. In a one-on-one race, she leads by 14. That's up from their last polls by five and seven points, respectively.
Clinton vs. Trump
National polling data shows the two candidates in a close race.
The race in key battleground states
North Carolina
We don't have polling since the 2005 video of Trump making lewd comments was published Friday, but the latest polling average from RealClearPolitics gives Clinton a 2.6-point lead here. North Carolina, which has 15 electoral votes, has historically been favorable turf for Republicans in presidential races. President Obama narrowly won here in 2008 but lost by a close margin to GOP nominee Mitt Romney in 2012.
Florida
Clinton has a two-point lead here, the swingiest of swing states. Florida has 29 electoral votes at stake.
Ohio
Trump is up by 1.6 points here, where 18 electoral votes are up for grabs.
Nevada
Clinton got a boost in this state post-debate. She now leads by about a point and a half.
The fall 2016 debate schedule
Wed., October 19
This is scheduled to be the last presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Read stories based on reporting for “Trump Revealed,” a broad, comprehensive biography of the life of the Republican nominee for president.
