Gov. Mike Pence has backed out of a Saturday campaign event in Wisconsin with House Speaker Paul Ryan, it has been revealed.
Donald Trump was originally scheduled to attend the event in his first appearance with Ryan, but was dropped Friday evening after a tape was leaked that showed him making rude and crude comments about women in 2005. As of Friday evening, Pence was expected to step in for Trump, but now according to multiple reports, he has decided not to go.
A campaign source told CNN that “Wisconsin is off” for Pence. No reason was given, but according to Politico, a top Pence advisor said the decision was “of his own accord.”
Pence released a statement Saturday denouncing Trump’s lewd comments:
“As a husband and father, I was offended by the words and actions described by Donald Trump in the eleven-year-old video released yesterday. I do not condone his remarks and cannot defend them,” Pence said in a statement. “I am grateful that he has expressed remorse and apologized to the American people. We pray for his family and look forward to the opportunity he has to show what is in his heart when he goes before the nation tomorrow night.”
To say that the party is in disarray after this latest Trump embarrassment is a gross understatement.
Former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina is calling for Trump to drop out of the race, saying he has “manifestly failed” at carrying out the responsibilities of a GOP nominee.
“Donald Trump does not represent me or my party,” she said in a Facebook post on Saturday. “I understand the responsibility of Republicans to support their nominee. Our nominee has weighty responsibilities as well. Donald Trump has manifestly failed in these responsibilities.”
Erick Erickson at the Resurgent says:
The honorable thing for Donald Trump to do now is to bail on the race, allow Mike Pence to run as the nominee, and give the GOP a fighting final chance. But Donald Trump is not nor has he ever been an honorable man. So that will not happen.
Right on cue, Trump told reporters Saturday there is “zero chance” that he will drop out of the race.
“I’d never withdraw. I’ve never withdrawn in my life,” Trump told The Washington Post. “No, I’m not quitting. I have tremendous support.”
He also told The Wall Street Journal there is “zero chance I’ll quit.”
New Hampshire GOP Senator Kelly Ayotte, meanwhile, says she’ll write in Pence’s name for president.
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