More senior Republicans have withdrawn support for US presidential candidate, Donald Trump, after his obscene remarks about women became public. At least a dozen Republicans have said they will not be voting for him, since the comments emerged on Friday.
Trump says he will never drop out of the race to be president and will never let his supporters down. He has been under pressure after a tape from 2005 of him speaking obscene comments about women was broadcast. The latest to withdraw their support are former Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, and former secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, BBC reported.
McCain said Trump’s comments “make it impossible to continue to offer even conditional support for his candidacy”, while Rice said: “Enough! Donald Trump should not be president. He should withdraw.” New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte said in a statement: “I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women.”
Ayotte, who faces a competitive race for reelection, said she would not vote for Clinton but instead would “write in” Mike Pence, Trump’s vice presidential running mate, on her ballot paper. Several other Republicans also said they would vote for Pence.
Trump himself stressed that there was “zero chance I’ll quit”, adding that he was getting “unbelievable” support. And in a tweet, the Republican candidate said, “The media and establishment want me out of the race so badly.”
Trump’s wife Melania issued a statement on Saturday saying: “The words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me.” She, however, added that her husband had “the heart and mind of a leader”.
Pence said he was “offended” by Trump’s video, but grateful he had expressed remorse and apologized to the American people.
House Speaker Paul Ryan had originally invited Trump to attend a campaign event in Wisconsin this weekend but rescinded his invitation, saying he was “sickened” by what he had heard.
Hillary Clinton, Trump’s Democratic election rival, called his comments in the tape “horrific”.
In the recorded comments, which date back to 2005 when Trump was appearing as a guest on a soap, he says “you can do anything” to women “when you’re a star”. The candidate released a video statement apologizing for the comments.
