Top Republicans are distancing themselves from Donald Trump following the release of a damaging 2005 audio tape where the GOP nominee can be heard making lewd comments about women.
Some Republicans are going as far as to call for Trump to end his White House bid.
The two-highest-ranking Capitol Hill Republicans -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan -- chastised Trump for his lewd comments on the tape about women.
“I am sickened by what I heard,†Ryan, Wisconsin, said Friday night after the tape was released and before Trump apologized. “Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified.â€
Ryan, who already had an uneasy political relationship with Trump, also said the nominee will no longer join him at an annual GOP-unity rally Saturday in Wisconsin, which GOP vice-presidential nominee Mike Pence is now scheduled to attend.
"These comments are repugnant and unacceptable in any circumstance," said McConnell, who like Ryan has endorsed Trump, a first-time candidate whose earlier comments about women and immigrants have been a drag on his campaign.
While neither Ryan nor McConnell, Kentucky, has withdrawn their endorsement or have called for Trump end his campaign, others Republican lawmakers want him to step aside.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee, among the most conservative congressional Republicans, called Trump a "distraction" and called on him to “step aside so we can focus on the winning ideas that will carry Republicans through to a victory in November."
While neither Ryan nor McConnell, Kentucky, has withdrawn their endorsement or have called for Trump end his campaign, others Republican lawmakers want him to step aside.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee, among the most conservative congressional Republicans, called Trump a "distraction" and called on him to “step aside so we can focus on the winning ideas that will carry Republicans through to a victory in November."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/10/08/republicans-distance-selves-from-trump-call-for-him-to-quit-after-damaging-video.html