Why now? And why this?
For the legion of Republicans who abandoned Donald Trump on Saturday, recoiling in horror from comments their party’s White House nominee made about using his fame to prey on women, there is no escaping those questions.
For months, they stomached his incendiary remarks about Mexicans, Muslims, prisoners of war, a Gold Star military family and a Hispanic judge, along with offensive statements about women too numerous to count. Democratic critics argue that their silence — or the promise to vote for Trump, but not endorse him — amounted to tacit approval of misogyny and racism.
There were no good answers Saturday, and few Republicans attempted to offer any.
A steady stream of GOP officials revoked their endorsements or called for Trump to drop out of the race, condemning the New York billionaire in emailed statements and carefully crafted tweets. But some, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, stuck with Trump even as they condemned his comments.
“It is a troubling situation,” Ryan said.
Those fleeing from Trump may ultimately say it was the shock of hearing and seeing the businessman’s crudeness on video that prompted them to finally walk away. On Friday, The Washington Post and NBC News both released a 2005 recording of Trump. His words were caught on a live microphone while talking with Billy Bush, then a host of “Access Hollywood.”
Some may draw a distinction between Trump’s outrageous earlier comments about women, minorities and others by noting that this time, the businessman wasn’t just being offensive — he was describing actions that could be considered assault.
But with a month until Election Day, and early voting already underway in several states, the truest answer to why Republicans are dropping Trump now — and why they’re dropping him over this — is likely political.
During the Republican primary, GOP officials worried that disavowing Trump would alienate his supporters and hurt the party in congressional races. In the general election, Trump’s crass behavior also seemed easier for Republicans to tolerate when stacked up against Democrat Hillary Clinton, a candidate so reviled by many in the GOP that virtually nothing Trump did seemed worse than the prospect of her becoming president.
But these new revelations come at a time when the White House race seems to be slipping away from Trump. He’s been unable to attract support beyond that offered by his core backers.
“There were people who were just starting to feel like this ship was going down and now this gives people a good excuse to jump off,” said Katie Packer, a Republican strategist who advised Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign and led an unsuccessful effort to prevent Trump from becoming the GOP nominee.
While some Republicans expressed astonishment and dismay over Trump’s 2005 comments, those who steadfastly refused to endorse him throughout the campaign suggested their party knew full well what they were getting with the brash real estate mogul and reality TV star.
“Nothing that has happened in the last 48 hours is surprising to me or many others,” said Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who was critical of Trump when he ran against him in the primary and has remained so for months.
Privately, even Republicans who didn’t formally revoke their support for Trump conceded there was little he could do to right his campaign at this point. Early voting is already underway in some key states and the comments aired in the video will likely be unforgivable with independent women — a constituency Trump desperately needs to win if he has any hope of defeating Clinton.
The last hope now for many Republicans is that an unimaginable election year will still end with the GOP in control of the Senate. New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Nevada Rep. Joe Heck, both locked in tight races, joined the parade of officials Saturday who said they simply couldn’t stand by Trump anymore.
For Ayotte, the move earned her no quarter from her Democratic opponent, New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan.
“She has had one example after the next of Donald Trump’s despicable words and his despicable behavior as reasons that she should have disavowed him,” Hassan said. “It took her until now when the revelation of his comments from a decade ago were made to decide that politically she couldn’t stand with him anymore.”
Look for more of the same in races nationwide. Democrats made clear Saturday they would spend the next month trying to ensure they and other Republicans get no credit for walking away now.
(AP)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
21 Responses
Obviously this analysis is written by a Democratic because the polls show that Trump is winning with a landslide and no sane person – let alone Republicans – would vote for Hillary, the murder, thief and liar.
#54 on Clinton’s Body Count!! Dr Sandeep Sherlekar from Maryland who treated Hillary’s blood clot in her brain in Dec 2012, has been found dead mysteriously.
Big news, the Republicans are dropping him.
Well, we the electorate have dropped the Republican politicians, the Ryans, McConnells, who betrayed our trust, caved in to Obama and helped the Dems run this country into the ground.
AP, NBC, CNN, RINOS;
You’re running scared.
Trump is a disgusting person.
The reason Republicans are dropping Trump now is because (i) his lewd remarks about women are not just remarks, they are accounts of his conduct, in which he unabashedly sexually assaults women, and (ii) Republicans are trying to minimize the damage to their party’s candidates for Senate, House of Representatives, and state and local races.
no 1
which poll are you looking at?? the polls now show trump behind by 4 points. hardly a landslide victory. i think trump still has a chance and this whole women can actually help him. because the more the elite republicans distance themselves from him the popular he gets with the electorate. thats been the pattern the whole time. we’ll wait and see what happens.
Arye, not sure where you’ve been hangin out but all latest polls including fox, cbs, cnn and more are showing Clinton ahead of Trump by between 4-7 points. Only LA Times has Trump ahead by 3.
Nebech, what America has come to. The founding fathers would roll in their graves.
But it ‘s ironic that the liberal immoral media, where every reporter/editor working in the low class smutz environment and supports all kinds of disgusting behavior and they talk and act in the same way as Trump, and even worse, all of a sudden have issues with what Trump said 11 years ago. And what about Bill Clinton’s actions? They had no issues with him.
The sad fact is that these two clowns were chosen by the majority of Americans. But the hypocrisy of the liberal leftists is outstanding.
The Republicans opposing Trump are those who opposed him all along, and still were “cool” to him after the voters in the primary picked Trump over those who condemn him.
Given that past presidents have frequently engaged in sexually dubious behavior (consider Bill Clinton and John Kennedy), this is not like to be fatal to Trump’s campaign. It could work in his favor if the Democrats focus on “sex” rather than policy (as happened to the Republicans in 1998 when they did poorly for emphasizing “Monica” when voters thought they should focus on runnng the government).
Re comment 7, philosopher: Whatever hypocracy the liberal left may have is equally matched or exceeded by the evangelical, religious and Orthodox Jewish right. There is nothing that Donald Trump does – in business, as an entertainer, or in proximity to women – that is not contrary to the religious teachings of the Abrahamic religions. And yet, these nominally “religious” groups are (or, hopefully, were) the base of his support.
#5,6 Yes, if you only go to Mainstream Media propaganda, you’ll find Trump behind in many polls. However, if you open your eyes and go to alternative news you’ll see the truth, the hypocrisy, Hillary’s corruptions, her wickedness, the amount of people mysteriously dead, her lies, fraud and theft, and the Clinton perverted actions in general, you’ll understand why business people, upstanding people, those who care about the economy and the country prefer Trump. Trump’s vile statements and vulgar language cannot compare to Hillary’s corruptions and crimes. Why aren’t you looking into Wikileaks and hacked stuff on Clinton that MSM refuses to publish and see for yourself?
huj
huju,
Whatever Trump personally is, he never attacked religion and morality in others. Many of our presidents weren’t particularly religious, but they respected people that were.
The Dems are forcing religion out of our streets, schools and shrines. Punishments for caterers who for religious convictions don’t want to serve gay couples,
A Carolina State Supreme Court judge recently suspended, possible future jail sentences for anybody who says gays and transgendered are an anomaly. Nobody wants these people disrespected or mistreated. Rather , the point is that in this dictatorial climate, people are afraid to voice their religious convictions. The Christians that support Trump are appalled that no persecuted Christians are permitted to enter the USA- Only Muslims.
Under the psychotic Hillary, rabbis and priests who refuse to marry gay partners will be jailed.
The business people who prefer Trump are globalists who only care for their fat wallets. Let the poor American jobseeker go to heck.
Now you understand why Trump will win, why people are angry, and why if G”Forbid she comes in, they’ll be riots in the streets as never before.
It has been long known, that any voter in this year’s election, would have to “hold their nose” before voting.
Having said that, there still is a clear difference. Trump is no tzadik, and this has been clearly known from the beginning. His saving grace….and the reason why HE WILL WIN B-I-G (despite some polls to the contrary), is because he holds positions on jobs, foreign policy, Israel, immigration etc., that are held by EVERYONE except the SUPER FAR LEFT.
Clinton, on the other hand, has openly stated that she “will continue policies of the Obama Administration”. In other words…OBAMA III. In addition, as Wikileaks has revealed…Clinton “tailors her position to the audience she has” and “has separate public and private positions on issues”. EVERYONE questions her truthfulness. The recent Wikileaks document dump, shows her contempt for the average vote and her continued determination to lie as necessary. The Republican politicians who are jumping ship are only trying to protect “their brand”. Remember, that Bill Clinton, maybe not so publicly but still IN FACT, was AT LEAST if not more, disgusting than Trump, Still, the liberal media love and idolize him. Bottom line…when you come to the voting booth, hold your nose and vote YOUR self-interest.
to aryeh
maybe but you didnt address the polls. you said hes ahead in the polls. he is not. unless you have some other mysterious source.
Let’s not forget that 4 years ago, the Dem delegates booed G-D & Jerusalem.
Under Hillary & Co., any religious leader from any denomination including a rav giving a drasha or writing an article about a Torah prohibition has a chance of being arrested. This is not farfetched.
Religion under the Dems is under assault.
Any woman not permitted to be ordained and serve as minister, bishop or rabbi will file discrimination lawsuits and win.
Now Yiddlach,go vote for Hillary.
I think w/ the timing of the release of old video, Hashem is teaching all of us a powerful lesson:
??? ??? ???? ???? ??? ??? ???? ??????…
why did republicans do nothing substantial to stop obamacare, the Iran deal, the IRS illegally targeting people for their political views, Obama’s illegal non securing of the border. his importation of 10% terrorists in a refugee flow, his illegal use of regulations at the epa to target the lawful energy industry…
lordy, lordy, we can’t shut down the holy federal government, now, can we? no, that’ll be spun as pushing wheelchair granny off of a cliff.
because mainstream Republicans are in bed with democrats. the american public knows this and is sick of it. the public wants a change. We The People want a government that works, that isn’t clinton-corrupt, that isn’t pay-for-play, that isn’t crony capitalism.
when do we want it? now.
and if you think there’s even a chance that we’ll get it from Hillary as she rides around on ill Force One, you are… someone who should abstain from voting in November.
The powerful lesson with the timing is: Oy Lonu Miyom Hadin, Oy Lonu Miyom Hatochecha…
The most frightening thing is the Hillary Supreme Court.
A totalitarian regime, Orwell’s 1984 in 20017.
Hashem will make a neis and Trump will let Pence run instead of him. mark my words.
Trump reminds me of Winston Churchill. A courageous leader with a filthy mouth.
The media doesn’t even pay attention to the shnutz that came out of Hillary’s pisk! (Google it)
This election is going into the gutter because Hillary’s policies are not what most voters want. If she C”V gets elected it will be 4 or 8 more years of the Obama policies or even worse.
We need a leader who will do our bidding not a leader who will lie to us and laugh at us.
I’m with Donald Trump 100%.