Election 2016: John McCain Pulls Trump Support, The Latest Republican To Turn On The Donald

Going, going, gone. Arizona Senator John McCain is the latest Republican to dump the Trump, pulling his support of the Donald following the damaging sexist video that surfaced recently.

According to Politico, enough was enough for McCain who had stated he had originally intended to support the Republican nominee but could not bring himself to do so any longer.

“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.”

And McCain isn’t the first to pull their support of Trump amid the damaging video that found Donald candidly making comments that many have construed as his admission to sexual abuse against women. Whether it was or not, or as Trump called it, simply “locker room talk,” the fact is the Republican nominee is losing backers fast.

The trouble began for Trump when a video surfaced courtesy of The Washington Post that found Donald talking about groping women among other lewd remarks.

“And when you’re a star they let you do it,” Trump said in the video alongside Access Hollywood host Billy Bush. “You can do anything. Grab them by the p—y. You can do anything.”

Enough is enough. Donald Trump should withdraw in favor of Governor Mike Pence. This election is too important.

— Gov. Dennis Daugaard (@SDGovDaugaard) October 8, 2016

The uproar caused many top faces of the Republican party take to Twitter and press releases to denounce Trump and pull their support from his campaign. One time candidate Carly Fiorina posted, as reported by USA Today, that Trump should resign and be replaced by his VP Mike Pence.

“Donald Trump does not represent me or my party. 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.”

Ted Cruz, a staunch opponent of Donald Trump and the candidate who suffered the most from Trump’s fierce attacks throughout the campaign, also pulled his support of the nominee, something he preferred to do months earlier when Trump initially won the nomination. According to Yahoo Finance, however, Cruz is curious to the timing of the release of the Access Hollywood tapes and questioned NBC’s motivations.

NBC had tape 11 yrs. Apprentice producer says they have more & worse. So why not release in 2015? In March? Why wait till October? #MSMBias https://t.co/WCEEHhZKd6

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 9, 2016

“NBC had tape 11 yrs. Apprentice producer says they have more & worse. So why not release in 2015? In March? Why wait till October? #MSMBias” Cruz tweeted, referencing supposed bias towards Trump in the mainstream media.

Then there are some Republicans who have issued stern letters denouncing Trump but coming short of actually pulling their nomination. As reported by the LA Times, former nominee Mitt Romney said in a video that he was “offended and dismayed” by Donald’s remarks but is still supporting his nomination.

Video: Mitt Romney says he was “offended and dismayed” by Trump tape, says it was “degrading to our women” https://t.co/UvmlqR0OIF

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) October 8, 2016

Finally, House Speaker Paul Ryan called for Republicans to distance themselves quickly from Trump and he himself is no longer campaigning behind him – though it doesn’t look like that will do him any good at this point. CNN is reporting that Ryan was heckled by members of the audience while speaking at an event in Elkhorn, Wisconsin.

[Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]