GOP congressional candidates may dump Trump

GOP congressional candidates may dump Trump

Senate and House hopefuls in tough races are under growing pressure to abandon him.

By BURGESS EVERETT, SEUNG MIN KIM and RACHAEL BADE
10/08/16 11:03 AM EDT

Republicans locked in close Senate and House races may soon withdraw their endorsements of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, party officials involved in those elections said on Saturday.

The officials said they don't expect their candidates to be able to withstand a sustained defense of Trump after footage surfaced Friday of him making crass comments about his sexual exploits and seeming to make light of sexual assault. On Friday evening, every Senate candidate in a competitive race condemned Trump’s comments, first reported by The Washington Post, but none pulled their endorsement.

That’s increasingly likely to change as Republican candidates around the country wake up to face voters at events and Democrats accusing them of condemning a candidate that they still support for president. The Republican officials said most GOP senators and candidates in competitive races are now sending strong signals that they are “inclined” to disavow support of Trump.

“It’s going to start happening very soon,” said one Republican of rescinding endorsements of Trump. “People are going to wake up and say this is never going to end.”

“If you look at what all of our people have said I think the answer is pretty clear,” said a second Republican official, who added that it should be “obvious to everyone” that opposing Trump is Republicans’ strongest play.

Yet many in the GOP have resisted such a tactic because it could hurt their support in their own party. In statewide elections, Republicans viewed it as impossible to abandon their nominee because it would lead to bleeding support among conservatives.

But with the release of Trump talking about being able to grope and do anything to women because he’s a “star,” Republicans are under enormous pressure to cut bait — in anticipation that Democrats will release more damaging material on Trump over the next month.

That’s an untenable place to be for Republicans such as Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), whose reelection contests are among the most competitive in the country.

Officials said they are two of the most likely candidates to announce they won’t backTrump. Up to now, Ayotte has said she supports Trump but without explicitly endorsing him. Toomey has yet to say who he supports or opposes in the presidential race.

In Missouri, however, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told the Post on Saturday that he will still vote for Trump. Blunt is in a competitive race, but Trump has been favored to win Missouri.

House Republicans running in tough races began opposing Trump on Friday night, as Reps. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) and Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) both explicitly announced their opposition to Trump’s candidacy after the release of the audio and video.

“Mr. Trump should step aside. His defeat at this point seems almost certain and four years of Hillary Clinton is not what’s best for this country. Mr. Trump should do the right thing and put country first,” Coffman said.

And some Republicans working on Senate races said Saturday that the Republican National Committee should consider shifting its attention to congressional races rather than pouring in millions to help elect a candidate with little chance of winning.

Even Republicans in deep-red districts were quick to cut the cord. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who had endorsed Trump before and is not in a competitive race, withdrew his support. And Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) released a statement Saturday morning announcing that she would not vote for Trump because his behavior “makes him unacceptable as a candidate for president.”

"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,” Roby said. “Now, it is abundantly clear that the best thing for our country and our party is for Trump to step aside and allow a responsible, respectable Republican to lead the ticket.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/1...#ixzz4MVerm68k

They will at their own peril. IMO

Seems there are a lot of sanctimonious Republicans looking for a reason to jump ship. As if they should talk when most are bought and paid for by special interests. Donald is not bought and paid for and that in itself is HUGE imo.

These people who want to exploit an antic like what NBC has pulled here with the Washington Post have serious issues. Republicans who want to claim they support the First Amendment but yet want to go against the will of the people over a private speech Hollywood moment that took place 11 years ago shows these Republicans have no spine, no guts, no loyalty and are Cut and Run Cowards Aiding and Abetting the Enemy.

Our party and country have no room for such holier-than-thou cowardice. Our party and country have no time for the morality speech police. Our party and country have no patience for hypocrisy. Our party and country have no tolerance for stupidity.

The Democrats in NBC, the Washington Post, CNN and everyone else involved in this smut story have turned their so-called news organizations into something worse than the National Inquirer and Hustler Magazine by taking a private guy talk Hollywood conversation on a bus 11 years ago and airing it on prime time news for political purposes.

What's next? Secret cameras in people's bathrooms?

Our Press has no judgment, no dignity, no respect for private citizens, no honor, no decency.

Donald Trump is a private citizen and wasn't running for office. He was participating in a Soap Opera segment for Days of Our Lives. He didn't say "I was a star". He said "when you're a star" referring to the universe in general. He didn't say "I grab their p.....y." He said "you can grab their p....y, and they'll let you do it. You can do anything."

For our Free Press to air a private Hollywood conversation like this which has nothing to do with policy, nothing to do with government affairs, nothing to do with public service, nothing to do with being President of the United States just shows the bias, corruption, and debasement of national press and media.

MSM has proven through this release that they are not journalists, they are not reporters, they're Smut Whores.

When you stand back and look at the whole situation, this story isn't about Donald Trump, it's about the Perverted Weirdos who have taken over our MEDIA.

REJECT THEM, NOT DONALD TRUMP.

STAND AGAINST THEM, STAND UP FOR DONALD TRUMP.

In fact, there are probably contract agreements between NBC and Trump that have been violated here. Trump needs to call a lawyer and have them get on NBC. I can't imagine that actors and other public figures who do show business with NBC would have contracts that allow NBC to disseminate audios and film of private moments to the Press.

Scott Jones disavows Donald Trump: "I will be voting for neither candidate for president."

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam...rlay-tease.jpg
CNN KFILE EXCLUSIVE
17 years of interviews reveal Trump's penchant for lewd talk

• The uncensored video
• Opinion: Too late for GOP to express shock
• How the hot mic tape surfaced

How the shocking hot mic tape of Donald Trump was exposed

by Brian Stelter @brianstelterOctober 7, 2016: 11:54 PM ET

WARNING: This story contains graphic language.

The videotape of Donald Trump that is shaking up the presidential election sat forgotten on a shelf at NBC's "Access Hollywood" until just a few days ago.

On Monday, according to an NBC source, one of the entertainment newsmagazine's producers remembered Trump's 2005 taping session with former "Access" co-host Billy Bush.

Trump's offensive comments about Alicia Machado were still making waves. And the Associated Press had just published a detailed story quoting former "Apprentice" employees saying Trump "was lewd and sexist" while taping the reality show.
With that in mind, a producer dug up the tape.

By mid-week, executive producer Rob Silverstein and his producing team had taken a look at its contents, and discovered that among other things it included a moment in which Trump told Bush, "And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."

It also included Trump saying he once tried and failed to have sex with Nancy O'Dell, who was Bush's co-host at the time.

After reviewing the tape, "we were debating what to do" with it, an NBC source explained.

By Friday morning, Silverstein had decided to broadcast it, and a script had been written. The story was not slated to air on Friday night's edition of the show, however.

That means the earliest it would have aired is Monday night -- after Sunday's presidential debate.

Another NBC source confirmed that "Access" was working on a story, and that NBC News knew about it, but said that as of Friday morning the story "wasn't quite finalized."

That's when Silverstein was notified that David Fahrenthold of The Washington Post had come into possession of a copy.

Fahrenthold, who has been reporting for months on Trump's charitable donations and the Trump Foundation, was contacted around 11 a.m. on Friday by a source who told him about the footage, according to a Post story about how he got this scoop.

Fahrenthold asked NBC for comment about the tape around noon Eastern time. The producers at "Access," which is based in California, were blindsided by Fahrenthold's call.

According to the Post, Farenthold knows the identity of the person who leaked the video to him, but will not disclose it.

Sources at NBC believe someone inside NBC downloaded the footage from one of the network's video servers. The tape was accessible internally since the "Access" story was already in the works.

Silverstein told Page Six on Friday afternoon, "I don't know who leaked it. I have no idea."

After the Post called NBC for comment, NBC News staff hurried to finish a story about it. So did the "Access" staff.

On Friday night's edition of the newsmagazine, co-host Natalie Morales reported on the tape, linking it to Monday's investigation by The A.P.

Morales also noted that Trump has appeared on the show "hundreds of times" over the years.

"In the course of reporting on Mr. Trump, we have reviewed much of our own footage," she said.

So does "Access" have other tapes of Trump speaking in vulgar terms? One of the NBC sources said, "Not that I know of."

O'Dell and "Entertainment Tonight," the show she now co-anchors, both declined to comment. But Brad Bessey, the former executive producer of "Entertainment Tonight," said in a tweet that O'Dell is "is classy, beautiful, family-focused, intelligent & a great journalist. Above the sexist objectification of @realDonaldTrump."

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https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...SvT_normal.jpgBrad Bessey
✔@BradBessey

.@nancyodell is classy, beautiful, family-focused, intelligent & a great journalist. Above the sexist objectification of@realDonaldTrump
5:50 PM - 7 Oct 2016 · La Habra, CA, United States

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http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/07/media/access-hollywood-donald-trump-tape/index.html

John McCain Withdraws Support for Donald Trump After Disclosure of Recording
New York Times‎ - 52 mins ago

Mr. McCain became the latest party leader to distance himself from the nominee after a ...