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- Mar 6, 2017
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Donald Trump criticized John McCain last year for being a prisoner of war and for not doing enough for veterans, then attacked a Gold Star family this summer. McCain criticized Trump at each turn, but stuck by his pledges to support the Republican nominee.
But 24 hours after audio surfaced of Trump demeaning women and making lewd comments about them, the 2008 Republican nominee decided he’d finally had enough.
The Arizona Republican said in a statement to POLITICO, later blasted out to the national media, that he simply can no longer stand behind his party’s standard-bearer. He used similar language on Saturday to that of Vice President Joe Biden, who said Trump’s comments of groping women amounted to “sexual assault.”
“I thought it important I respect the fact that Donald Trump won a majority of the delegates by the rules our party set. I thought I owed his supporters that deference,” McCain said on Saturday. “But Donald Trump’s behavior this week, concluding with the disclosure of his demeaning comments about women and his boasts about sexual assaults, make it impossible to continue to offer even conditional support for his candidacy.”
It’s a stark reversal for McCain, as Saturday was for many Republicans. In an interview ahead of his primary triumph over Kelli Ward, McCain said that he had no plans to abandon Trump in his general election campaign.
“No,” McCain said in late August, when it appeared that Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) was offering him a tough reelection challenge. “There’s no reason to do that.”
But Trump’s stock tanked in the ensuing six weeks. And McCain cited issues that other Republican didn’t touch in their statements abandoning Trump, particularly Trump’s continued insistence that five men in New York accused of a 1989 rape were guilty even after they were exonerated.
“Just this week, he made outrageous statements about the innocent men in the Central Park Five case,” McCain said. “There are no excuses for Donald Trump’s offensive and demeaning comments in the just released video; no woman should ever be victimized by this kind of inappropriate behavior. He alone bears the burden of his conduct and alone should suffer the consequences.”
(full article online)
But 24 hours after audio surfaced of Trump demeaning women and making lewd comments about them, the 2008 Republican nominee decided he’d finally had enough.
The Arizona Republican said in a statement to POLITICO, later blasted out to the national media, that he simply can no longer stand behind his party’s standard-bearer. He used similar language on Saturday to that of Vice President Joe Biden, who said Trump’s comments of groping women amounted to “sexual assault.”
“I thought it important I respect the fact that Donald Trump won a majority of the delegates by the rules our party set. I thought I owed his supporters that deference,” McCain said on Saturday. “But Donald Trump’s behavior this week, concluding with the disclosure of his demeaning comments about women and his boasts about sexual assaults, make it impossible to continue to offer even conditional support for his candidacy.”
It’s a stark reversal for McCain, as Saturday was for many Republicans. In an interview ahead of his primary triumph over Kelli Ward, McCain said that he had no plans to abandon Trump in his general election campaign.
“No,” McCain said in late August, when it appeared that Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) was offering him a tough reelection challenge. “There’s no reason to do that.”
But Trump’s stock tanked in the ensuing six weeks. And McCain cited issues that other Republican didn’t touch in their statements abandoning Trump, particularly Trump’s continued insistence that five men in New York accused of a 1989 rape were guilty even after they were exonerated.
“Just this week, he made outrageous statements about the innocent men in the Central Park Five case,” McCain said. “There are no excuses for Donald Trump’s offensive and demeaning comments in the just released video; no woman should ever be victimized by this kind of inappropriate behavior. He alone bears the burden of his conduct and alone should suffer the consequences.”
(full article online)
How McCain finally decided he couldn't stomach Trump anymore
"I thought it important I respect the fact that Donald Trump won a majority of the delegates by the rules our party set. I thought I owed his supporters that deference," McCain said.
www.politico.com