Ben Sasse of Nebraska on Saturday became the third Republican senator to call on Donald Trump to end his presidential bid over lewd remarks the GOP presidential candidate made about women over a decade ago.
Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Mark Kirk of Illinois, who is seeking re-election, also are urging Mr. Trump to pull the plug on his candidacy, saying he has become too big of a distraction.
Mr. Sasse said the party would be better off having Mr. Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, atop the ticket.
“Character matters. @realDonaldTrump is obviously not going to win,” Mr. Sasse said on Twitter. “But he can still make an honorable move: Step aside & let Mike Pence try.”
Republican House members have also joined their Senate colleagues saying it is time for a change.
Rep. Martha Roby of Alabama said in a statement that she has concluded that Mr. Trump can no longer defeat Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election.
“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,” Ms. 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.”
The Washington Post released audio and video recordings Friday in which Mr. Trump brags about trying to have sex with a married women and about how women allow him to grope them because of his star power.
Mr. Trump apologized in a statement Friday and in a video released early Saturday morning.
In the video, Mr. Trump said the comments do not reflect him as a person and said they are nothing more than a distraction from the real issues confronting the nation in the 2016 presidential election.
Mr. Trump also signaled he now plans on putting more focus on former President Bill Clinton’s extramarital affairs and how Hillary Clinton, his Democratic rival, responded to the women her husband was involved with — after congratulating himself repeatedly after their first debate for the restraint he showed in not moving the conversation in that direction.
“Let’s be honest: We’re living in the real world,” Mr. Trump said. “This is nothing more than a distraction from the important issues we’re facing today. We are losing our jobs, we’re less safe than we were eight years ago, and Washington is totally broken. Hillary Clinton and her kind have run our country into the ground.”
“I’ve said some foolish things, but there’s a big difference between the words and actions of other people. Bill Clinton has actually abused women, and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims,” he said.
Meanwhile, top Republicans, including RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and House Speaker Paul Ryan, have worked to distance themselves from the comments.
In a video released Friday, Mr. Lee, who, like Mr. Sasse has long been a Trump critic, said that if anyone spoke to his wife, daughter, mother or anyone of his five sisters “they way Mr. Trump has spoken to women, I wouldn’t hire that person” and “I wouldn’t want to be associated with that person.”
He said Mr. Trump is “the distraction from the very principles that will help us to win in November.”
“I respectfully ask you with all due respect, to step aside, step down, allow someone else to carry the banner of these principles … rather than weighing down the American people, rather than weighing down the very principles that will help us win in November.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.