McCain, Ayotte And GOP Luminaries Links To Donald Trump Attacked In Video Ad Series
They say that a week is a long time in politics. For GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump this week must have been a nightmare. Once again Trump’s behavior in his political campaign and beyond has been exposed and it does not make happy reading for the Trump camp. From the very beginning Donald Trump has courted controversy, but these latest revelations are surely the most damaging yet. Trump’s nomination has hardly united the GOP, the “Stop Trump” campaign was fiercely waged, but with the election just a month away an uneasy truce emerged. Until this week.
It is unlikely that anyone has missed news of the latest Trump scandal, but the Washington Post released video that showed Trump making offensive and lewd comments about women. Trump brags that he “doesn’t wait for consent” and says “you can do anything, just grab them by the p***y. When you’re a star they let you do it.”
Since the video emerged, high-profile GOP members have been falling over themselves to distance themselves from Trump. According to the Guardian, senator John McCain is the latest senior republican to slam Trump. In the wake of these latest revelations McCain has said that it is no longer possible to support Trump, even on a conditional basis.
“Cindy and I will not vote for Donald Trump. I have never voted for a Democratic presidential candidate and we will not vote for Hillary Clinton. We will write in the name of some good conservative Republican who is qualified to be president.”
The Huffington Post reported earlier this week that Senator Kelly Ayotte had described Trump as “a role model” for American children. How quickly that comment has come back to haunt her. Ayotte has also withdrawn her support for Trump.
I will not vote for Donald Trump. Read my statement here: pic.twitter.com/F8zajgDZpg
— Kelly Ayotte (@KellyAyotte) October 8, 2016
Ayotte released a statement on her Twitter account saying that she will not vote for either Clinton or Trump and will instead vote for Trump’s running mate Mike Pence.
“I wanted to be able to support my party’s nominee, chosen by the people, because I feel strongly that we need a change in direction for our country. However, I’m a mom and an American first, and I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women.”
Of course Trump is famously bombastic and often sees attack as the best form of defense. Even Trump must now wonder if he has any hope of winning next month’s election, especially when even his running mate has spoken out to condemn him.
My statement below: pic.twitter.com/92VYEAxIcl
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) October 8, 2016
GOP members like senators McCain and Ayotte are desperately trying to distance themselves from Trump, but it may not be as easy as they hope.
Political pressure group MoveOn is targeting voters in the senators home states with a series of paid Ad’s that reveal links to Donald Trump. In a series of paid promotional videos MoveOn is aiming the ad’s at “conservative Christian women” and urges them to reject both Trump and Ayotte.
The video blasts Kelly Ayotte for supporting Donald Trump “after 16 months of the GOP nominee continuously displaying indefensible behavior.”
MoveOn director Ilya Sheyman, claims that Trump has run a misogynistic, racist, and hateful campaign as Republican leaders looked on and cheered.
“After more than a year of his unacceptable and indefensible remarks and behavior, Kelly Ayotte and other Republicans leaders continued to set aside their morals and stand beside Trump, enabling his campaign of bigotry, hatred, and sexism.”
“Enough is enough. Ayotte and the Republican Party have paved the way, and cheered along, as Trump relentlessly attacked women, veterans, Gold Star families, immigrants, people of color, people with disabilities, and other communities. Anything that Ayotte and other Republican leaders who backed Trump say now is too little, too late. Americans will reject Trump, and those who’ve stood with him, on November 8.”
Senator Ayotte is just one of the republicans targeted by MoveOn, Senator McCain, and Marco Rubio are just a couple of the others. The Independent claims that Trump is under huge pressure, from within his own party, to stand down. Trump may not stand down, but this weeks scandals will surely make the next presidential debate compulsive viewing.
[Featured Image by Evan Vucci/AP]
