Politics

Republicans Respond to Trump's 2005 Comments

October 7th 2016

Many people are speculating that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's 2005 comments about women's bodies could tank his campaign. And his remarks are even earning condemnation from high-profile Republicans.

donald-trump-and-reportersWashington Post - washingtonpost.com

Here are what thirteen GOP politicians had to say about the recording.

1. Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk

2. Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake

3. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush

4. New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte

Kelly AyotteWikimedia - wikimedia.org

"His comments are totally inappropriate and offensive," Ayotte remarked, according to a report on Talking Points Memo.

5. Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus

“No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner." Priebus said in a statement reported by Politico. "Ever.”

6. Ohio Gov. John Kasich

7. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney

8. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman

“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.

9. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan

10. Arizona Sen. John McCain

11. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz

12. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

13. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio

Senators Flake and Kirk have been outspoken critics of Trump for quite some time — as has Romney — so their reactions aren't especially shocking. And Kasich a governor of the battleground state Ohio refuses to endorse Trump.

John KasichMarc Nozell / Flickr - flickr.com

Ayotte, for her part, has had a tense relationship with Trump since she refused to endorse him but said she would vote for him in August. McCain's relationship with the nominee has been similarly rocky. Jeb Bush has been relatively quiet since he bowed out of the race after the South Carolina primary.

Priebus' swift response to Trump's crude and predatory comments is a bit more unexpected, though.

Priebus has started to campaign more aggressively for his party's nominee and even threatened Republicans who refused to endorse Trump.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) had planned to speak with Trump at a Wisconsin event on Saturday, the Washington Post reports. Trump has since been uninvited from the event.

Dan Pfeiffer, former senior advisor to President Barack Obama, also made a very good point about these remarks in a tweet that references Ryan in particular. (He used the word "sickening," which appeared in Ryan's statement and followed a retweet about Ryan.)

paul-ryanAP/Ron Sachs - apimages.com

This story, first published at 10/7/2016 at 6:37 PT, was updated at 6:55 p.m. PT to include a tweet from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and updated again at 7:39 p.m. PST to include comments from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as well as a tweet from former Obama advisor Dan Pfeiffer commenting on Ryan's statement.

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